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X.' 

HISTORY 



&Gy 



STATE OF RHODE ISLAND 



PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS. 



BY 

SAMUEL GREENE A R N O L D. 



VOL. I 



1636—1700 



v/-">~- 



NEW YORK: 

D. APPLETON k COMPANY, 34G .t ;348 P>ROADWAY. 

LONDON: 1 (i LITTLE r.KITAIN. 

1859. 



No I 



En'Teukd. aoeoriliiiL; to Act of C')iiLrivss, in tho yt-:ir H'jS, 

By SAMUEL GEEEXE AENOLD, 

In tho CU'i-k's Ortioe of tlie District Convt of tiic Tnitcd States for Uliixlc Island. 



TO THE 

PEOPLE OF ^]I01)E-ISLA^■I) 

^^ o >-■■ -^ 

OF THE TRIALS AND THE TRIUMPHS OF TIIEIK ANCESTORS 

IS I X S (' K I B E T) 

BY T II E I K F E L L O W - C I T I Z E N , 

SAMUEL GREENE ARXOLD. 



PREFACE. 

The work, of which the first volume is now prcseuted, is the result 
of many years' labor. To trace the rise and progress of a State, the 
offspring of ideas that were novel and startling even amid the philo- 
sophical speculations of the seventeenth century; whose birth was a 
protest against, whose infancy was a struggle with, and whose maturity 
was a triumph over, the retrograde tendency of established Puritanism ; 
a State that was the second-born of persecution, whose founders had 
been doubly tried in the purifying fire; a State which, more than any 
other, has exerted, by the weight of its example, an influence to shape 
the political ideas of the present day, whose moral power has been in 
the inverse ratio with its material importance, and of which an eminent 
historian of the United States has said that, had its territoi-y " corre- 
sponded to the importance and singularity of the principles of its early 
existence, the world would have been filled with wonder at the phenom- 
ena of its history," is a task- not to be lightly attempted or hastily per- 
formed. 

The materials fur Ilhode Island histor}' are more abundant than 
many have supposed. They are widely scattered and difficult to col- 
lect or arrange, and hence the opinion has seemed to prevail that too 
much was lost to render the preservation of the remainder an object of 
interest. But some persons have thought otherwise, and tliree attempts, 
prior to this, have been made to write the history of the State. The 
first was by G-overnor Stephen Hopkins, one of the signers of the Dec- 
laration of Independence, who, iu 17G5, commenced to publish "An his- 
torical account of Providence,'' since reprinted in the second series of 



VI PEEFACE, 

Massachusetts Historical CoUectious, volume ix. Only one cLapter was 
completed when the struggle for independence interrupted the work, 
which was never resumed. The second was by Hon. Theodore Foster, 
a Senator in Congress from llhode Island, who collected a large number 
of original pajiers and made copies of nearly the whole of the colony 
records. But one chapter of this work was ever written. His death pre- 
vented its completion. The third attempt, by the late Henry Bull of New- 
port, was more successful. He published in the Pv-hode Island Bepub- 
lican, 1S.'j2-0, a scries of articles entitled " JMemoii's of Rhode Island," 
embracing tlic priucijial events of each year from the settlement of the 
State down to 1799. The care taken in the preparation of these arti- 
cles leads us to regret that Mr. Bull did uot extend his labors still 
further, and omboily them in a more permanent form. These, with the 
five volumes of the llhode Island Historical Collections, with the valua- 
ble notes of the editors and authors of each, the more than thirty vol- 
umes of [he Massachusetts Historical Collections, the lately published 
Colonial Becords of Connecticut, of Massachusetts, and now those of this 
State in the course of publication under the admirable supervision of 
the Secretary of State, the later editions of early Massachusetts authors, 
Morton, Prince, and others, but particularly the Journal of Winthrop 
with the copious notes of its liberal and learned editor, Hon. James 
Savage, the life of the founder of Bhode Island by Professor Knowles, 
a perfect magazine of important facts, — these are some of the principal 
printed authorities most accessible to the general reader. There are 
also a great number of books in the libraries of Harvard and Brown 
Universities, and more than all in the unrivalled collection of works on 
American history in the possession of Mr. John Carter Brown, of this 
city, which shed much light upon the annals of Bhode Island. Besides 
these there are several I'eligious discourses, following the plan of Cal- 
lender, also historical addresses, and some local narratives, that contain 
interesting facts bearing upon the general history of the State. 

The unpublished materials are the records of tlie several towns, 
those of this and the ncighborina; States that have not been included in 



PREFACE. Vll 

the printed volumes, the private collections of Hutchinson, Trumbull, 
Hinckley, Prince and others, in possession of the Massachusetts His- 
torical Society, of Foster and Backus in the Rhode Island Historical 
Society, and yet more important, the hitherto undeveloped resources in 
the British archives, at London, which clear uj) many points never be- 
fore explained. These are the chief sources of information that have 
been consulted in preparing this work, and will be found referred to in 
the notes. 

Several months were spent abroad in 18-46-7, in the examination 
of government archives, chiefly in England and France, in search of 
materials not to be found in America. The kindness of gentlemen in 
official station, particularly in Her Britannic Majesty's Government, 
in securing permission to examine their records, and of those in the 
State Paper Offices at London, Pai'is and the Hague, in facilitating his 
labors, should receive the grateful acknowledgments of the writer. 

Copies of the English documents herein referred to are now in Mr. 
Brown's library, he having given orders, previous to the author's visit 
to England, to have every thing pertaining to Rhode Island, and much 
more besides, copied for his private collection ; which was done under 
the supervision of Henry Stevens, Esfp, a gentleman whose experience 
eminently qualified him for the task. 

Many of these authorities extend beyond the limits of this volume, 
and with a large number of new ones, both local and general, will be 
used in the later portions of the work. 

The thanks of the writer are due to many friends who have ren- 
dered assistance in various ways to lighten his labors : to Mr. John 
Carter Brown, to Hon. William E. Staples, late Chief Justice of the 
State, the editor of Gorton, and author of the xVnnals of Providence, to 
Judge George A. Braytou of the Supreme Court, to Dr. David King 
and Rev. Henry Jackson, D. D. of Newport, to Hon. John R. Bartlett, 
Secretary of State, to William J. Harris, E-;q., and others, all deeply 
interested in whatever pertains to the history of their State, who have 
given efficient aid by the loan of books and manuscripts. 



Vlll PREFACE. 

The firrft object attciiipteJ in this work has been to make it reliable 
both -as to facts and dates; that it should be a standard authority upon 
the subject and period of which it treats. To accomplish this design 
no pains have been spared, and it has been kept steadily in view even 
at the risk of making the book less readable than it might have been. 
Many subjects are mentioned that, to the general reader, can have little 
or no interest, the value of which can only be understood by those who 
consult history for a specific purpose. For the benefit of this latter and 
more limited class of readers, the reference notes are made more nume- 
i-ous than they would otherwise have been. The most important dates 
have been verified by a tedious mathematical process, unnecessary here 
to describe, but which is essenti.d to accuracy in many cases, owing to 
a strange diversity that existed in the mode of dating under tlie Julian 
calendar before the adoption of the Gregorian or New Style in 1751. 
The Julian year began on the 2r)th of March. February was the 12th 
month and March the 1st month of the year. Many papers between 
the- first and twenty-fifth of March, bear date as of the coming year, 
while others are dated correctly, according to the Julian system, as of 
the expiring year. This diversity of course throws a doubt upon the 
true date of all correlative documents throughout tlic year, and has led 
many writers into error. That the reader need not be misled on this 
point the double date of the year, between January 1st and March 25, 
is given in the margin. If it is desired to reduce the day of tlie month 
to New Style, eleven days are to be added to the marginal date. 

That, notwithstanding the labor and care bestowed upon these 
pages, they contain some errors of fact or date, perhaps important 
ones, it would he presumptuous to deny. The more one explores the 
labyrinth of historical investigation, the less positive will he become 
of the entire accuracy of his conclusions. A conscientious desire to 
arrive at the truth, is all that the author dares to claim in submitting 
this work to the judgment of his peers. That it will grate harshly upon 
the ears of some, whose views upon the questions of politics and theol- 
ogy involved in the settlement of this State, differ from those of its 



PREFACE. IX 

founders, be is well aware. That some may assail it upon these grounds 
is not improbable, and for such he is pi-epared ; while at the same time 
he courts a generous criticism that may aid his future labors. 

So far as was compatible with the above mentioned object, he has 
endeavored to make the work interesting to those who read simply for 
the sake of reading ; but he can claim nothing upon this score. The 
minutias of local or of State history, demand an attention to details 
which broader fields do not require, and limit, in the same proportion, 
the power of the pen. To make a State histoiy both authentic and 
poj^ular, where the ground has not already been occupied, would require 
it to be too voluminous. To enlarge upon the philosophy of the funda- 
mental principles involved in the settlement of Rhode Island, would 
afford a pleasing relief from the labor of critical research ; but this can 
be better done by the reflecting reader, or it may furnish a theme for 
some future historian, more fitted for the task than the writer feels 
himself to be, who will reap the laurels that he must forego. 

PiioviDESCE, May 17, 1858. 



A r. B E E V I A T I O N S . 

R. I. n. C. — Rhode Island Historical Collections, in 5 vols. 

R. I. Col. Rec. — Rhode Island Colonial Records, 3 vols, now published, 1G3G- 

170C. 
Conn. Col. Rec — Connecticut Colonial Records, 2 vols, now published, 163G- 

1G77. 
M. C. R. — Massachusetts Colonial Records, 6 vols, now published, 1G23-1G8G. 
M. 11. C. — JIassachusetts Historical Collections, in series of 10 vols, each, of 

which 3 series are completed, and 4 vols, of the fourth. The 

figure before the letters denotes the series. 
Rr, S. P. 0.— British State Paper OfBce. 



G N T E NTS 



CHAPTER I. 1G20— 1G3G. 

Introductiou — From the Settlement of New Eugland to the Banishment 

of Roger "Williams, . . . . . . .1 

Appendix A.— Early Life of Roger Williams, .... 47 

CHAPTER II. 163G— 1638. 
Tlie Antinomian Controversy, . . . . . .51 

CHAPTER III. 
The Aborigines of Rhode Island — Peai;ot War, . . . .72 

CHAPTER ly. 

History of Providence from its Settlement, 1G36, to the Organization of 

the Government xmder the Parliamentary Charter, May, 1G47, . 97 

CHAPTER V. 

History of Aquedneck from its Settlement, March, 1G38, to the Organi- 
zation of the Government under the First Charter, May, 1G47. . 124 

CHAPTER VI. 

History of Warwick and Narraganset down to the Formation of the 

Government under the First Patent, May, 1G47, . . 103 



Xll ■ CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER VII. 1G47— 1C51. 

History of the Incorporation of Providence Plantations from the Adop- 
tion of the Parliamentary Charter, May, 1647, to the Usurpation '' 
of Coddington, August, 1651, . . . . .200 

CHAPTER VIII. 1651—160:3. 

From the Usurpation of Coddington, August, 1G51, to the Adoption of 

the Royal Charter, November, 1663, .... 237 
Apjiendix B. — Proceedings in the case of John Warner, . . 287 

CHAPTER IX. 1G63— 1675. 

From the Adoption of the Royal Charter, November, 1663, to the Com- 
mencement of King Philip's War, June, 1675, . . . 20O 
Appendix C. — Errors of Grahame and Chalmers, . . . 370 
Appendix D. — Atherton Company Correspondence, . . . 378 
Appendix E. — Conspiracy against John Clarke exposed, . . 383 

CHAPTER X. 1675—1677. 

From the Commencement of Philip's War, June, 1675, to the Trial of 

tlie Harris Causes, November, 1677, .... 3S7 

CHAPTER XI. 1678—1686. 

From the Renewal of the Struggle for the Soil of Rhode Inland, 1677-'8, 

to the Suspension of the Charter, June, 1686, . . . 439 

Appendix F. — Answers of Rhode Island to tlie Board of Trade, . 488 

CHAPTER XII. 1686—1700. 

From the Commencement of the Andros' Government to the Close of 

the Seventeenth Century, ..... 492 

Appendix G. — Founding of Trinity Church, Newport, . . . 55^''' 



THE 



HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND. 



I. 



CHAPTEE 1. 

INTRODUCTION— FROi\I THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND 
TO THE BANISHMENT OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

16:20—1636. 

The direct causes whicli led to the settlement of New chap 
England, had been in active operation for nearly seventy 
years before that event transpired. The more remote in- 
fluences that led to this result date back to the com- 
mencement of the English Eeformation. The spirit of re- 
sistance to clerical authority and papal aggression, was 
first inculcated in Great Britain by John Wicldifte, Pro- 
fessor of Divinity in the University of Oxford. It soon 
spread to the continent of Europe, where the teachings of 
Huss and Jerome, in opposition to the claims of the 
hierarchy, roused the vengeance of tlie Council of Con- 
stance, and led to their martyrdom. 

A period of quiet succeeded the Bohemian struggle, 
until the laxity of the pontifical court, under Leo X., 
gave rise to the Reformation of Luther. From that time 

VOL. I. — 1 



2 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND, 

CHAP, the history of Europe presented a continuous scene of ac- 
.^ '^^^ tion and reaction upon the fundamental principles of re- 
ligion and politics. The inquisitive mind of Germany 
was occupied in s23eculations which were to open a new 
and brighter era to humanity. England, already in some 
degree prepared for the mighty movement, soon asserted 
her sovereignty by severing her allegiance to the church 
of Kome. The spell of the Papacy was broken ; the first 
great result of the Keformation was achieved. A spirit 
of inquiry was awakened, which could neither be quelled 
by the fire of persecution, nor controlled by the decrees of 
princes or parliaments. During the reign of Edward VI,, 
the English Liturgy was completed and promulgated as 
the ecclesiastical law of the land. The priestly vestments 
were retained in the service, although strenuously opposed 
by many of the reformed clergy. The more resolute Prot- 
estants resisted at the outset all attempts to fasten upon 
them the livery of a church from whose communion they 
had w^ithdrawn. Uniformity was the rock upon which 
the early Eeformers split. The first demonstration of 
nonconformity occurred at Frankfort. The virulent per- 
15 5 4. secution of the Protestants, which commenced upon the 
accession of Queen Mary, caused great numbers of them 
to seek refuge on the continent. A small church was 
gathered at Frankfort, who objected to the use of some 
portions of King Edward's service book. These were sup- 
planted the next year by a party of their countrymen 
under Dr, Cox, who restored the English forms in full as 
prescribed by King Edward, and were hence called " Con- 
formists." Most of the others went to Geneva, where 
they were kindly received by Calvin, were there organized, 
and adopted a liturgy agreeable to that of the French 
churclics. The coronation of Queen Elizal:)etli was the 
signal for the return of the exiles, and the permanent 
though gradual establishment of the Protestant Faith. 
The reign of Elizabeth was emphatically the age of prerog- 



THE REIGN OF ELIZABETH. 



ative in England, Never did tlie authority of the crown chap 



I. 



maintain itself so absolutely. Although some of the Stuarts 
afterwards attempted to exercise arbitrary power in repeat- 1 5 5 -i- 
ed instances, yet none of them wielded so uncontrolled 
a sceptre, or conducted with the firmness or the success 
that characterized the last of the Tudors, Mary had been 
a bigot in religion ; Ehzabcth became a tyrant in prerog- 
ative ; and because theology was the prevaiHng topic of 
the times, she seized upon that as the most convenient 
medium for confirming and manifesting her authority. 
The earliest enactments of her first parliament were to 
this end. The act of uniformity, prescribing the regula- 
tions of church service, preceded by a single day the act 
of supremacy, which vested in the queen the right of 
ecclesiastical control. Immediately upon the passage of 

these acts two parties arose in the Protestant Church, one \^^.? 
^ . ^ April. 

favoring the royal prerogative, the other, somewhat more 

true to the spirit of the Reformation, maintaining that in 
things indifferent, liberty should be allowed. Both were 
at this time pretty nearly agreed in points of doctrine, 
in the necessity of uniformity in public worship, and in 
the right of the civil power to enforce it. The prerogative 
party, or Conformists, held that the will of the queen was 
the only guide in church affairs ; the Puritans, that coun- 
cils or synods were the proper tribunals. The idea of 
freedom of conscience as applied to the individual was un- 
known, or unrecognized, by either party. It was reserved 
for another age and a distant land to develop in its full 
significance the grand result of the Reformation. 

The passion of Elizabeth, for pageantry of every kind, 
together with her inordinate love of power, were the chief 
causes which distracted her reign. The one inclined her 
to retain as far as possible the gorgeous ceremonial of the 
church of Rome, the other led her to punish those who 
desired a simpler ritual and plainer rol^es. The severity 
of her measures ao;ainst the Puritans at lenscth resulted in 



4 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAr. tlie separation, which commenced in 1566. The press had 
,^^;.^, ah-eady been closed against them by a decree of tlie Star 
15 5 9. Chamber. The opposition of a large portion of the peo- 
ple to the Komish vestments, and to certain ceremonies, of 
trifling import in tliemselves, which could easily have been 
assuaged by temperate policy, was increased by the exercise 
of arbitrary j^ower. Accordingly, after solenin delibera- 
tion, a number of the deprived ministers, with their friends, 
detennincd to withdraw from the communion of the 
established church, and laying aside the English Liturgy, 
they adopted the Geneva forms. Henceforward there was 
to be no longer a cordial union of Protestants against 
Popery, but rather a union of the prerogative and papal 
parties against the Puritans, This was less apparent 
during Elizabeth's reign than in that of her successor. 
But the Reformation in England, so far as the government 
was concerned, had attained its culminating point. The 
breach thus commenced rapidly widened. The doctrinal 
articles of the church, some of which, in the opinion of 
many learned and pious men, were too strongly tinctured 
with Erastian })rinciplcs, began to be questioned. Other 
sects arose, distinct in many respects from the Puritan 
church, and carrying the principles of the separation to a 
greater extent, but all wdio were zealous for the Eeforma- 
tion, were indiscriminately branded with the same invidi- 
ous epithet. In vain did the Puritans seek to appease 
the resentment of their enemies by disowning the sec- 
taries. Papists, Familists, Baptists and BroAvnists, were 
denounced by the Puritans with equal zeal as by the Prc- 
latists, and alike held up as worthy of persecution ;' but 
the attempt thus made to ingratiate themselves with 
their rulers was w^ithout success. In proportion as the 
ranks of non-conformity were augmented, the severity of 
government increased, and exile, or death, for crimes of 

' Neal. .'112. 



EEIGN OF JAMES I. 5 

conscience, became more frequent as the long reign of chap. 
Elizabeth drew to its close.' ; 

The union of the crowns of Scotland and England, 1 5 5 i). 
in the person of James I., inspired the Puritans with a 
new but delusive lioj^e. This fickle prince, whose con- 
summate vanity as a man, was the source of his weakness 
as a monarch, very soon forgot the precepts of the Scottish 
church, which he had sworn to support, and became the 
tool of ambitious prelates and designing courtiers. Six 
months after he came to the throne, occurred the celebrated 
conference at Hampton Court, between the bishops and 
the Puritans, at which the king himself presided, and 
made his first public display of that combination of pedan- 
try with tyranny which has made his character, when 
viewed in the light of history, the object of mingled aver- 
sion and contempt. The result of that conference crushed 
the hopes of the Puritans. The triumphant bishops, no 
longer doubtful of their position, at once proceeded to urge 
severe measures against the whole body of Protestant 
non-conformists, and secretly to court the favor of the 
papal party. 'At the death of Archbishop Whitgift, 
Bancroft, bishop of London, was raised to the See of Can- 
terbury. This haughty prelate revived the persecution of 
the Puritans, and conducted it with unparalleled rigor, 
excommunicating many who would not receive a set of 
canons prepared by himself and passed by an obsequious 
convocation, although not confirmed by parliament. He 
it was who first asserted in England the divine rio;ht of 
the order of bishops, and prepared the church for the 
usurpations of Laud, which afterwards involved the United 
Kingdom in civil war. 

To bring the kirk of Scotland under the dominion of 
the English hierarchy was a favorite project of James, and 
was actively promoted by the intrigues of Bancroft. This 
was a bold design, against which the armorial bearings and 

' For the last three years of her life she became more tolerant. 



6 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND. 

cnAi'. motto of Scotland might liave furnished a significant warn- 
^^,2^,^ iiig- It Avas an index of that aggressive and intolerant 
15 5 9. spirit which drove a large number of the English non- 
conformists into voluntary exile. Holland became a refuge 
for those whom persecution deprived of their native home. 
The larger portion of the refugees were rigid Separatists, 
whose views, crude as they might appear at the present 
time, were very much in advance of those held by the 
mass of non-conformists in respect to the essential objects 
of the Eeformation. .These were the men who, with their 
descendants a few years later, made the first permanent 
settlement of New England. The Puritans for the most 
part remained in England, still clinging to the slender 
chance of some favorable current of aifairs. The succes- 
sion of Archbishop Abbot to the high position vacated by 
the death of Bancroft, gave them renewed hope. He is 
described as a thorough Calvinist, a sound Protestant, 
and as being suspected of Puritanism. But his views, al- 
though they served for awhile to mitigate the asperities 
of the times, failed to effect permanent relief. The 
worthy primate soon became unjiopidar at court, and fell 
into disgrace. The pretensions of King James to arbi- 
trary power increased, and all who ojiposed the preroga- 
tive, although friends of the established church, were de- 
nounced as Puritans, as well as those who were Calvinists 
in theology, or reformers in church government and wor- 
ship. The former were called State Puritans, the latter 
Doctrinal Puritans. The two, when united, comprised 
a majority of the nation. The Arminian party, of whom 
most of the newly appointed bishops, with Laud at their 
head, were the leaders, allied with the Papal faction in 
supporting the king. Such was the condition of affairs at 
the close of the reign of James I. 

Meanwhile, a portion of the refugees in Holland, after 
twelve years' residence in that country, resolved to emi- 
grate to America. Protracted negotiations with the 



G. 



DEPARTURE OF THE PILGRIMS. 7 

Virginia Company to secure a patent to lands, and with chai". 
merchants in London to provide the necessaries for emi- ___;_ 
gration, together with earnest consultations with their l *> 2 o. 
friends in England, now occupied the attention of the 
Pilgrims. After their departure from Holland, further 
delays awaited them at the English ports. Twice were 
they compelled by the insufficiency of their transports to 
return, and on the second occasion their smaller vessel, 
the Speedwell, of sixty tons, in which they had first em- 
barked at Delft Haven, was abandoned as unseaworthy. 
At length, on the 6th of September, 1620, the Mayflower Sept. 
finally set sail from Plymouth, with her precious freight 
of one hundred souls,' to seek a better land beyond the 
seas. 

Whether we contemplate this act in its intrinsic 
character, or regard it in the magnificence of its results, it 
assumes a degree of importance scarcely equalled in the 
liistory of our race. The stern devotion to principle which 
impelled them to encounter the severest hardships, when 
a simple act of submission to a creed would ensure them 
peace and plenty in their English homes — the lofty courage 
which inspired even women and children gladly to brave 
the perils of the deep — and, above all, their unwavering 
faith in the promises of an Omnipotent Deity, present a 
picture whose moral sublimity is not enhanced even by 
the success wliich has crowned their enterprise. After a 
stormy passage of sixty-five days, they dropped anchor on 
the dreary coast of Cape Cod. At the end of another 
tedious month, consumed in exploring the vicinity, and 11. 
in preparations for landing, the Pilgrims stood at last on "" ^' 
Plymouth rock. 

About this time a com})any of merchants and others ^ov. 
which had been formed in the West of England, with Sir 
Ferdinand Gorges, governor of Plymouth, at tlicir head, 

' 100, not lOl.—Yoimg's Pilgrims, 122, note 1, and p. 100, notes 2, 5. 



Dec. 



8 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, encouraged by the reports of the celebrated Captain John 
,^^}^ Smith, and supported by the influence of some of the 
1 G 2 0. most powerful noblemen in the kingdom, obtained a 
charter of incorporation, with the exclusive right of plant- 
ing and governing New England. This company, known 
as the council of Plymouth, were thereby invested with 
unlimited jurisdiction over a region of almost boundless 
extent, embracing the entire breadth of the continent 
from sea to sea, between the fortieth and forty-eighth par- 
allels of north latitude. But the apparent compass of 
their power was the real measure of their weakness. So 
violent was the opposition to this monstrous monopoly, 
that not even the proclamation of King James, enforcing 
the terms of the grant, and sustainedby the utmost stretch 
of the prerogative, could preserve inviolate the charter of 
the company. The spirit of English liberty, nourished 
by the Puritans in proportion as the encroachment of the 
crown increased, spurned the authority of an instrument 
which fettered both sea and land. Extensive fishing ex- 
peditions were fitted out for the coast of New England, 
and conducted without regard to the claims of the coun- 
cil. In vain did the company send out officers to main- 
tain their authority in New England, or aj^peal to the 
king to sustain their pretensions. The parliament stood 
firmly on the rights of the subject, until the company, 
exhausted by fruitless efforts to secure their monopoly, at 
length resorted to the sale of charters as their sole source 
of revenue. In the course of a few years they disposed, in 
various grants, of all the lands in New England, some of 
them twice over ; nothing of value remained to them ; 
10 3 5. many of the original patentees had already abandoned 
their interests, and the council itself finally surrendered its 
charter and became extinct. > 

From this company the purchase of a large grant of 

' Report of Board of Trade on Duke of Hamilton's claim to Nai-raganset. 
— British State Paper Office, Xew Enr/land Papers, vol. xxxvi. p. 222. 



.Tunc 

7 



THE MASSACHUSETTS COMPANY. 9 

lands in Massachusetts was made, and a party of emi- chap. 
grants, nnder tlie direction of John Endicott, came over the .__^ 
same year, and established themselves at Salem, Avliere 10 2 8. 
Eoger Conant, from New Plymouth, had already made a jg^ 
settlement. That enterprise, originating in a commercial 
speculation, and proving unfortunate, had been abandoned 
by all but Conant and a few associates, who, inspired by 
the zeal of friends in England, had remained to found 
another home where the exiles for religion might find rest. 
A few of Endicott's followers settled at Charlestown. 
The next year a royal charter was with much difficulty 
obtained, and the Massachusetts company became legally i g 2 9. 
a distinct trading corporation. This was followed by an Marcli 
emigration of about two hundred persons under the pastoral 
care of Eev. John Higginson. These settled at Salem and 
Charlestown. The powers and privileges which the Mas- 
sachusetts charter conferred differed in no essential par- 
ticulars from those of similar companies already existing. 
That it was soon to be virtually erected into a basis of 
civil government became apparent, when, at a meeting of 
the company in London, ifc was resolved to transfer the 
charter to the freemen of the company inhabiting the 
colony. By this act a powerful stimulus vv^as given to the 
scheme of colonization. Large numbers prepared to cross 
the sea. A meeting of the company was held to transfer ^^*- 
the government to America, by appointing an entire board 
of officers who would agree to emigrate. John Winthrop 
was chosen governor. In the monthof March following, 
the great expedition, consisting of about eight hundred 10 3 0. 
souls, embarked in eleven ships at Yarmouth, and reached 
their destination in June and July. Nearly as many more 
followed in the course of the year. The settlement of 
Boston and the final establishment of the colony of Mas- 
sachusetts Bay date from this period. 

Although the terms of the patent, and the royal 
intent in granting it, point only to a commercial ad- 



10 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAi'. venture, yet the circumstances wliich determined the 
_^;_ emigration, the documentary proofs in relation to it, and 
16 3 0. the character and subsequent conduct of the men, furnish 
sufficient evidence that a large portion of them were ac- 
tuated by other motives than pecuniary gain. What 
were tliese motives ? Certainly not those assigned to 
them by Charles I., " the freedom of liberty of conscience ;" 
for scarcely had the royal charter been obtained, and the 
church under Higginson established itself in Salem, while 
the government had not yet been transferred to America, 
or the settlement of Boston commenced, before the jjcr- 
manent policy of the Puritans was developed in active 
hostility to dissenters. Two men named Browne, occu- 
pying influential positions in the colony, were f jremost in 
opj)osition to the new church organization, and strenuously 
demanded that the English liturgy should not be aban- 
doned. Thus the enemy from which they had fled ap- 
peared at once among them. Episcopacy asserted its 
rights in the stronghold of the Puritans. But should the 
exultant hierarchy, which had driven them across the sea, 
be allowed to dictate to them in their new-found homes, 
and perhaps in time expel them from their " New English 
Canaan ? " Tlie colonists thought not, and availing them- 
selves of a clause in the form' of government prescribed 
by the company under their charter, which permitted the 
expulsion of " incorrigible persons, " the two Brownes 
were summarily sent back to England, by order of Endi- 
cott, in the very shijis which had brought them over. 
Thus early was dissent rebuked, and theological con- 
■• tumacy punished, before the Puritan church itself was 

fairly established in Massachusetts. " The freedom of 
liberty of conscience " then formed no part of the Puritan 
polity in its incejition, nor yet, as we shall jiresently see, 
in its com})lction. The Puritans fled from England be- 
cause they could not conform to the usages of the cstab- 

' 1629, April 30.— Young's Chrons. Mass., 196. 



THE PURITANS. 11 

lisliecl church, because they desired a still further exten- chaj'. 
sion of the principles of the Reformation, because they ,__J_ 
would not assent to those forms of church service attempted 16 3 0. 
to be enforced by the celebrated act of uniformity. Differ- 
ing -widely on these points from the government creed, 
they looked for a home in the new world, where they might 
erect an establishment in accordance with their peculiar 
theological views. " They sought a faith's pure shrine," 
based on what they held to be a purer system of worshi}), 
and a discipline more in unison with their notions of a 
church. For this they crossed the Atlantic and obtained 
a home, where the Pilgrims had preceded them, on the 
dreary coast of New England. Here they proceeded to 
organize a State, whose civil code followed close on the 
track of the Mosaic law, and whose ecclesiastical polity, 
like that of the Jews, and of all those then existing, was 
identified with tlie civil power. They thus secured what 
was denied them in England, the right to pursue their 
own form of religion without molestation, and in this the 
object of their exile was attained. The hardships of the 
infant colony are evinced in the fearful havoc which death 
and desertion made in their ranks. More than one hun- 
dred, discouraged at the prospect which pestilence and 
famine presented, abandoned the enterprise, and returned 
' immediately to England, while of those who remained, 
double that number, before the close of the year, had 
fallen victims to disease. So great was the decrease from 
these causes, and so disheartening the effect produced in 
England by the report of those who returned, that the 
accessions by emigration for the next two years were not 
sufficient to make up the losses. A similar series of dis- 
asters had occurred to the Pilgrims in commencing their 
settlement. Sickness and starvation had reduced their 
numbers one-half within a few months, and the additions 
were at no time so considerable as those which the sister 
colony afterwards received. Ten years of hardship and 



12 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND, 

suffering elapsed Lefore the great emigration of the 
Puritans, and at that time the Plymouth colony contained 
1 (< 3 0. Q^-^jy three hundred persons. Such were some of the 
difficulties encountered hy the early settlers of New Eng- 
land. 

The government of Plymouth was for many years a pure 
16 2 0. democracy. In the cabin of the Mayflower the first solemn 
^^^'- compact in the history of America, creating a body politic 
by voluntaiy act of the signers, was subscribed. Upon 
this brief but comprehensive constitution rests the whole 
fabric of American republicanism.' The right to frame 
laws, and the duty of obeying them, were here simulta- 
neously declared by the free act of the whole people. As 
the Pilgrims were more liberal towards those who differed 
from them in points of religious doctrine than the Pu- 
ritans, so were they more free in their political constitu- 
tion. There were good reasons for this difference. In 
the first place, the principles of the early Se})aratists, 
although falling far short of the full idea of liberty of 
conscience, were much more liberal than were those of 
either of the two parties into which the Puritans were 
divided in the reign of James I. They were upon the 
right line of action, without having yet attained the ulti- 
mate result of their movement, or having traced back to 
its source, in the philosophy of mind, the secret impulse 

' In the name of God, Ameu. "We, whose names are uuderivritten, the 
loyal subjects oi" our dread sovereign lord, King James, &c., having under- 
taken, I'or the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith and honor 
of our King and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern 
parts of Virginia, do, hy these presents, solemnly and mutually, in the pres- 
ence of God and of one another, covenant and comhino ourselyes together mto a 
civil body politic, for our better ordering and pi-eservation, and furtherance of 
the ends aforesaid ; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame such 
just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, aud offices, from time to 
time, as shall he thought most meet and convenient for the general good of 
the colony ; imto which we promise all diie submission and obedience. In 
witness whereof, Sec. — Bradforrrs .j- WinsIow''$ Journal, MourCs lldation. 
Youn[/''s Chmns. of rihjrinis, p. 121. 



THE PILGRIM FATHERS. 13 

which urged them onward. Their conceptions of the chap. 
great truth which they were unconsciously developing were ..^^ 
but vague .and uncertain, hut their course seems to have 1 6 2 d 
been guided in no small degree by its dawning light. 
Their venerable teacher, Kobinson, in his final sermon, 
before their departure from Leyden, had given them a July. 
solemn charge, which seemed to foreshadow the new reve- 
lation that was to spring from the oracles of God. " I 
charge you, before God and his blessed angels, that you 
follow me no farther than you have seen me follow the 
Lord Jesus Christ. If God reveal any thing to you, by 
any other instrument of his, be as ready to receive it as 
ever you were to receive any truth by my ministry ; for I 
am verily persuaded, I am very confident, that the Lord 
has more truth yet to break forth out of his holy word." ' 
The contrast to the bigotry of England which this liberal 
and Christian advice presents, is a proof, how far in ad- 
vance of his age was this learned and pious pastor of the 
Pilgrims. Had Kobinson been able to accompany the 
emigrants to America, the future apostle of religious free- 
dom would have found in him a sympathizing friend. The 
result of his teaching is seen in the milder treatment of 
those who differed from them, which the records of Ply- 
mouth present when compared with those of Massachu- 
setts. The spirit of Kobinson appeared to watch over his 
feeble flock on the coast of New England^, long after his 
body was mouldering beneath the cathedral church at Ley- 
den. Again, their twelve years' residence in Holland had 
brought the Pilgrims in contact with other sects of Chris- 
tians, and given them a more catholic spirit than per- 
tained to those whose stay in England had been embittered 
by the strife of contending factions in the established 
church. Whether thcsg reasons fully account for the 
superior liberality of the Plymouth Colonists, or not, the 
records show, that as they were distinct from the Puritans 

' Morton's Memorial, p. 29, note. 



14 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, in England, and had been long separated from them in Hol- 
.^..^^ land, so did they preserve that distinction in some measure 
10 20. in America. The Pilgrims of Plymouth were more liberal 
in feeling, and more tolerant in jiractice, than the Puri- 
tans of Massachusetts Bay. The simple forms of demo- 
cratic government were maintained in Plymouth for 
eighteen years, until the growth of the colony compelled 
the introduction of the representative system. The laws 
were enacted by the entire people, and their execution 
intrusted to a governor, and council of five assistants, 
afterwards increased to seven. 

The government of Massachusetts was much more 
restrictive, and the circumstances of the colony compelled 
more frer[uent changes in its forms than was the case with 
16 2 9. Plymouth. The royal charter, with the j^lfin of govern- 
April i^^cnt adopted under it, by the company in wdiich John 
Endicott was named as governor, had formed the fun- 
damental law, until the corporation itself emigrated the 
next year to America, with Winthrop at its head. A new 
organization under the king's patent now took place. By 
this patent, a governor, deputy-governor, and eighteen as- 
sistants were to be elected annually by a majority of the 
fVng. freemen of the company.' Soon after the arrival of Win- 
throp, the first Court of Assistants was held at Charles- 
town. The 211'oceedings of that court w^ere singularly in- 
dicative of the future policy of the colony. The first 
measure proposed was " how the ministers shall be main- 
tained."- This question, so honorable to the colonists, 
who, amid the hardships of an infant settlement, made 
the sujiport of the clergy their earliest care, would prove, 
if other evidence were wanting, that the religious senti- 
ment was the most active cause of Puritan emigration ; 
and it might further serve as a premonition to all those 
whose creed was heterodox, or whose conduct was at 

' 1 Holmes's Annals, 195. ' 1 Prince, 2-lG. 



10 3 



23 



MORTON OF MERRY MOUNT. 15 

variance with tlie spirit of the times, that the Massa- chap, 
chusetts colony was no home for them. And, as if to — ^^ — 
confirm the latter position heyond mistake, the second 
measure of the court was to order, " that Morton of Mt. 
WoUaston he sent for presently." Thomas Morton was 
one of a company under Capt. Wollaston, who, some 
years before, had located in w^hat is now the town of 
Quincy. Wollaston, on his return to England, left the i g 2 5. 
place in charge of one of his companions, who was dis- 
placed by the intrigues of Morton, and the establishment 
under the new^ name of Merry Mount, became a scene of 
riot and dissipation, to the infinite annoyance of the neigh- 
boring settlements. The colonists had once equipped 1628. 
Miles Standish ^vith an armed force to abate this nuisance, 
and having captured Morton, sent him to England as a 
prisoner, with charges against him to be disposed of as the 
company there might see fit. He found means to return the i (5 2 9. 
next year, and renewed the orgies of Merry Mount, until 
the summary proceedings of the Court of Assistants broke 
up this resort of idlers.' This was a step for which no one 10 o. 
can censure the court. The dissolute character of Morton 
and his crew rendered their expulsion necessary for the wel- 
fare of the colony, while the fact of their supj)lying the In- 
dians with firearms merited the severest punishment. But 
it is the promptness of the government in taking action 
upon the case, which is chiefly worthy of note. Scarcely 
had they landed in New England, before they provide, first 
for the support of the ministry, and second for the purifi- 
cation of society. The only other measure of the court 
at this session related to the price of labor. However 
much we may ajjprove of their action in the two preceding 

' Morton's house was burnt by order of the Court at their nest session, 
Sept. 7 (I Prince, 2i8), and himself imprisoned until sent for the second time 
to England, whence he again returned in 1G43, and finally died at Piscataqua. 
For particulars concerning tliis notorious " old roysterer," see Jlorton's New 
England's Memorial, 135-142, with the Editor's note ; also 1 Mass. Hist. Coll. 
iii. Gl-6-t. His own account oi^ himself in his book entitled New Encrlish 



16 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 



1030 



19 



matters, this certaiuly was ill-advised, and as the event 
proved, injurious. Mechanics' wages were fixed at two 
shillings a dny, and a fine of ten shillings was decreed 
against giver and taker for any excess above this rate. The 
experiment of arbitrary values, whether placed upon labor, 
or affixed to things intrinsically worthless, has been often 
tried with ruinous results, and the attempt in this case 
displayed a disposition to excessive legislation, incompat- 
ible with the real interests of society.' 
Oct. The first Greneral Court, comj)Osed of all the freemen of 

the colony, was held in the autumn. The. spirit of this 
assembly was liberal and yielding. Over one hundred per- 
sons were admitted freemen of the company, many of whom 
were not connected with any of the churches.- Among the 
applicants for freedom was William Blackstone, the earliest 
settler of Boston, having resided there four or five years 
previous to the arrival of Winthrop, and the same who after- 
wards removed to what is now the town of Cumberland, 
being unable to brook " the tyranny of the Lord's brethren " 
at the Bay.^' The influence of the governor and assistants 
and the disposition of the people to repose confidence in 
their authority, led the Court to order that for the future 
tlie freemen should choose the assistants only, and that 
these should select the governor and deputy from among 
themselves, and should also make laws and appoint officers. ' 

Canaan, by Thos. Morton, Amsterdam, 1637, 4to., 191 pp., a copy ol' wliicli I 
hr.vc read iu tlic British ]\Iusenm, does not display liis character much more 
favorably than does the indignant secretary of the court of N. Plymoutli in 
the pages above referred to. 

^ These absurd regvdations were several times repealed and re-enacted, and 
were the occasion of much trouble in Massachusetts, frequently requiring the 
interposition of the courts to adjust variations in the price of labor between 
different towns. — 1 Savage's Winthrop, 31, note. This was not the only sub- 
ject upon Ti-hieh the rulers of the Bay abused their legislative prerogative. 

" 1 Hutchinson's Mass., 2G. 

^ 1 Savage's Winthrop, 53, note (1853). He was admitted at the next 
Court, May 18, 1631. 

■' Prince's Annals (1826), 320. 



THE RELIGIOUS TEST ACT. 

This was a wide dej)arture from the terms of the charter, 
and a concession of power which, however safely reposed in 
this case, furnished a dangerous precedent for the future. 
At the next General Court, being the first court of election 
in Massachusetts, this power was wisely restricted by the 
people, who reassumed the right to choose their own offi- 
cers, and although they did not at this time expressly limit 
the term of office to one year, they established their right 
to make such annual changes in the board as the majority 
might wish. Thus they partially rescinded the act of the pre- 
vious Court by which they had yielded too much. It would 
have been well if they had stopped at this point, and not 
made the legislation of the two Courts present a still further 
contrast, by an order which entirely reversed the liberality 
of the former in admitting freemen without a religious test. 
This measure, which was to be the exciting cause of future 
troubles, and the means of calling into existence a new 
State based upon principles as yet untried, was considered 
essential to the preservation of purity in the community. 
" To the end the body of the commons may be preserved 
of honest and good men, it was ordered and agreed, that 
for the time to come, no man shall be admitted to the 
freedom of this body politic, but such as are members of 
some of the churches within the limits of the same."' 
This extraordinary law continued in force until the dissolu- 
tion of the government,*^ and the spirit of intolerance which 
it necessarily, if not intentionally fostered, survived in the 
hearts of the people, and was displayed in the conduct 
of the rulers, long after the odious enactment was ex- 
punged from the statute book. The apologists of this 



' Prince's Annals (1826), 354. 

^ It was nominally repealed in 1665(1 Holmes's Annals, 210, note), but its 
leatm-es were essentially retained, by substituting for cliurcli membership a 
minister's certificate that the candidate for freedom was of orthodox princi- 
ples, and of good life and conversation. 1 Hutchinson's Mass., 26, and note, 
p. 231. 

VOL I — 2 



1 631. 



18 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND. 

cuiAP. lo^ have excused its existence on the ground of dangers, 
which were feared from the hostility of the prelatical 
party in England, requiring a strong hond of union, and 
the incitement of religious zeal in those to whom was in- 
trusted the exercise of political power. They overlook or 
conceal the facts that the requisites for church member- 
ship in Massachusetts were far more strict than in Eng- 
land, and that it was a greater grievance to he deprived of 
civil liberties for this cause in New England than in Old ; 
and asrain, the direct effect of such a law must be to incul- 
cate hypocrisy, since no rectitude of conduct could procure 
the immunities, which were the reward of profession only, so 
that if any one did not feci himself to be at heart a Chris- 
tian, and could thus conscientiously unite with a church, 
he must submit either to dissemble or be disfranchised. At 
this day it appears strange that men, who in so many re- 
spects showed that they were wise and good, should not 
have seen and shunned the consequences of such a law. 
It would seem as if they believed that the act of legisla- 
tion was omnipotent, having in itself an efficacy to change 
the heart of man, and to reverse the principles of human na- 
ture. How, otherwise, could they sanction a statute which 
placed a premium upon deceptiorr, arrd which required a 
spiritual change, such as they held coiUd only be effected 
by divine grace, as a prelude to the exercise of civil rights, 
while, as the evidence of this change, they could require 
only the assurance of the applicant, accompanied by such 
proofs, in »_)utward conduct, of his sincerity as might suffice to 
satisfy public opinion ? The external conditions of citizen- 
ship were too easy, and its advantages too great, to be 
overlooked by those whose lives were governed by any 
other motives than those of conscience. The terms of the 
law are such as to defeat its avowed object. To preserve 
men " honest and good," we should avoid the occasion of 
evil, and not offer an inducement to practise it uirder the 
cloak of sanctity. The s})irit of this law is one which 



ARRIVAL OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 19 



163 1. 



would blot out from the great cauon of petition, "lead us 
not into temptation/' to substitute for the teachings of Infi- 
nite Wisdom the devices of man's invention, which would 
expose frail humanity to a powerful allurement under the 
name of a sanctifying trial, and expect it to emerge un- 
scathed, or even strengthened, from the dangerous ordeal. 
The operation of the law could not fail to introduce into 
the body politic elements the very opposite to what was 
intended, and to assimilate the institutions of the State 
to those from which they had fled, by making still more 
close, in Massachusetts than ever it had been in England, 
the union of civil with ecclesiastical power. To establish 
a tyranny of the church, to cherish a feeling of intolerance, 
and to foster a spirit of dissimulation, were the inevitable 
results of this baleful statute. To infuse discontent into 
the minds of many, and thus to involve the State in con- 
tinual difficulty, was its legitimate and immediate effect. 
It was the first direct legislative exposition of the feeling 
of the colonists towards those who differed from them in 
religious opinions, however blameless might be their lives. 
It foreshadowed a similar fate to others, under the sanction 
of law, which had already been visited upon the Brownes, 
by order of Endicott, under a construction of the charter. 
Nor was it many years before the emigration of some pro- 
minent citizens, and the open oj^position of others, dis- 
played the light in which independent men viewed the 
infringement upon freedom of thought and action of which 
this statute was the harbinger. 

A few weeks previous to the meeting of this Gene- 
ral Court, the ship Lyon arrived at ISTantasket, with Feb. 
twenty passengers and a large store of provisions. Her ^• 
arrival was most timely, for the colonists were reduced to 
the last exigencies of famine. Many had already died of 
want, and many more were rescued from imminent peril 
by this providential occurrence. A public fast had been 9, 
appointed for the day succeeding that on which the ship 



1631. 



20 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, i-eacliecl Boston. It was changed to a general thanksgiv- 
ing. There was another incident connected with the arri- 
val of this ship, which made it an era, not only in the 
affairs of Massachusetts, but in the history of America. 
She brought to the shores of New England the founder of 
a new State, the exponent of a new philosopjiy, the intel- 
lect that was to harmonize religious differences, and soothe 
the sectarian asperities of the New World; a man whose 
clearness of mind enabled him to deduce, from the mass of 
crude speculations wliich abounded in the I7th century, 
a proposition so comprehensive, that it is difficult to say 
whether its application has produced the most beneficial 
influence upon religion, or morals, or jDolitics. This man 
was Kogev Williams, then about thirty-two years of age.' 
He was a scholar, well versed in the ancient and some of 
the modern tongues, an earnest inquirer after truth, and 
an ardent friend of popular liberty as well for the mind 
as for the body. As "a godly minister," he was welcomed 
to the society of the Puritans, and soon invited by the 
church in Salem to supply the place of the lamented Hig- 
ginson, as an assistant to their pastor Samuel Skelton. 
The invitation was accepted, but the term of his ministry 
was destined to be brief The authorities at Boston re- 
monstrated with those at Salem against the reception 
of Williams. The Court at its next session addressed a 

April letter to Mr. Endicott to this effect : " That whereas 
Mr. Williams had refused to join with the congregation at 

' See Appendix A for research into Lis early life. A Rhode Islander may 
be permitted to notice the coincidence of a general thanksgiving day " by or- 
der from the Governor and Council, directed to all the plantations," to cele- 
brate the an'ival of the ship which brought the founder of his State to the 
shores of the New World. With the exception of the thanksgiving held July 
8, upon the arrival of " the great emigration " by the emigrants themselves, 
this was the first instance of what has long since become, by universal cus- 
tom, one of the " institutions '' of these United States. And happily for the 
couutiy, the principles which emanated from the cabin of the Lyon have been 
no less widely diffused than has the custom to which her arrival gave occa- 
sion. 



WILLIAMS SETTLED AT SALEM. 21 



Boston, because they would not make a public declara- 
tion of tlieii- repentance for having communion with the 
churches of England, while they lived there ; and, besides, 
had declared his opinion that the magistrate might not 
punish the breach of the Sabbath, nor any other offence, 
as it was a breach of the first table ; therefore, they mar- 
velled they would choose him without advising with the 
council, and withal desiring him, that they would forbear 
to proceed till they had conferred about it." ' 

This attempt of the magistrates of Boston to control 
the election of a church officer at Salem, met with the re- 
buke it so richly merited. The people were not ignorant 
of the hostility their invitation had excited ; yet on the 
very day the remonstrance was written, they settled Wil- 
liams as their minister.'^ The ostensible reasons for this 
hostility are set forth in the letter above cited. That 
they were to a great extent the real ones cannot be ques- 
tioned. The ecclesiastical polity of the Puritans sanc- 
tioned this interference. Their church platform aj)proved 
it.^ Positive statute would seem to require it. Never- 
theless, we cannot but think that, underlying all this, 
there was a secret stimulus of ambition on the part of the 
Boston Court to strengthen its authority over the prosper- 
ous and, in some respects, rival colony of Salem, Salem 
was the oldest town in what was then Massachusetts, and 
had been the seat of power under Gov. Endicott until the 
corporation emigrated to America, supplanting his author- 
ity by that of Gov. Winthrop, and making Boston the 
capital of New England. But the advantages of Salem 
were considerable, and the feeling of independence re- 
sulting from these circumstances was ajiparent. The ex- 
pediency of reducing the people of Salem to more com- 
plete subjection to the central power, could not have been 

'Winthrop, i. G3. - Beutley's Hist, of Salem, 1, M. H, C. vi. 24G. 

^ Mather's Magnalia, B. v. ch. 17, § 9. 



CHAP 
T 

163 1. 



1 r;3l. 



22 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, overlooked Ly the Court, and accordingly we find tliem 
speedily embracing the earliest opportunity to assert that 
l^ower — gently, at first, expressing wonder and requesting 
delay on certain theological grounds, but more harshly 
afterward as we shall presently see. As a political meas- 
ure this interference failed of its object. The people resent- 
ed so great a stretch of authority, and the church disregard- 
ed the remonstrance. The reasons assigned by the Court, 
we do not propose here to discuss. The first involved a 
point in which Williams was not alone. The "great 
John Cotton " himself withdrew from communion with the 
churches of England, and persuaded other eminent di- 
vines to adopt the same course."' The second reason re- 
dounds to the everlasting honor of Williams as '' the great, 
earliest assertor of religious freedom."" What could not 
as yet be accom2)lished by direct intervention of the Court 
was efiected in a surer manner. The fearlessness of Wil- 
liams in denouncing the errors of the times, and especially 
the doctrine of the magistrate's power in religion, gave 
rise to a system of persecution which, before the close of 
the summer, obliged him to seek refuge beyond the juris- 
diction of Massachusetts in the more liberal colony of the 
Pilgrims.^ 

At Plymouth " he was well accepted as an assistant 
in the ministry to Mr. Ralph Smith, then pastor of the 
church there."^ The principal men of the colony treated 
him with marked attention. Gov. Bradford, in his Jour- 
nal, speaks well of him,^ and Gov. Winthrop, who had 
uniformly opposed him, mentions having partaken of the 
Holy Sacrament with him, in company with Mr. Wilson, 
pastor of the Boston church, when on a visit at Plymouth. 
Williams remained for two years at Plymouth.*^ The 

1 Magnalia, B. iii. cli. 1, § 10-18. * Mr. Savage in note 2, Winthrop, i. 41. 
= Bentley's Salem, 1, M. H. C. vi. 246. ■• Morton's Memorial, 151. 
^ Prince, 377. 

^ The weight of authority assigns this limit to R. W.'s residence at Ply- 
mouth. See citations in Knowles. p. 55, note. 



Alii;-. 



THE NARRAGANSETT INDIANS, 23 

opportunities there presented for cultivating an intimate 
acquaintance witli the chief Sachems of the neighboring 
tribes were well improved, and exerted an important in- 
fluence, not only in creating the State of which he was to 
be the founder, but also in protecting all New England 
amid the horrors of savage warfare. 

Ousamequin, or Massasoit, as he is usually called, was 
the Sachem of the Wampanoags, called also the Pokanoket 
tribe, inhabiting the Plymouth territory. His seat was 
at Mount Hope, in what is now the town of Bristol, Pt. I. 
With this chief, the early and steadfast friend of the 
English, Williams established a friendship which proved 
of the greatest service at the time of his exile. 

West of the Pokanoket country, embracing the islands 
in and around Narragansett bay, the eastern end of Long- 
Island, with nearly the whole mainland as far as Paw- 
catuck river, was the powerful tribe of the Narragaijsetts, 
including several subordinate tribes, all owning the sway 
of the saoacious and venerable Canonicus, with his brave 
and generous nephew, Miantinom(j, as their chief Sachems. 
Tradition speaks of this tribe as a fierce and warlike race, 
extending their conquests from the main, over all the 
adjacent islands, and it still points to the spot on the 
island of Rhode Island, where in a great battle, anterior 
to the arrival of the English, the former proprietors of 
these beautiful shores were vanquished by the valor of 
their assailants. There is a clause in the Indian deed of 
Aquidneck to Wm. Coddington, which appears to confirm 
this tradition. It is, however, certain that at this time 
the schemes of the Narragansetts for territorial aggran- 
dizement had ceased, and their attention had become 
directed in some measure to the arts of civihzation. They 
coined money in their rude way from sea-shells, and were 
skilled in various branches of Indian manufacture. With 
these Indians, as with Massasoit, W^illiams sought friend- 
ship, and by kindness and attention, making them pres- 



1 6 3 2. 



24 HISTOKY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP. gj2ts and visiting them, as liis letters describe, "in tlieir 
filthy smoky holes to gain their tongue," he overcame the 
shyness of the old Canonicus and won the esteem of the 
high-si^irited Miantinomo. It proved well for himself and 
for New England that this intercourse was maintained. 

The generous spirit of the Pilgrims preserved Koger 
Williams in a great measure from the annoyance which 
had caused his removal from Salem, and protected him 
from the offensive interference of the civil authorities. 
Still his own views were too liberal for the times in which 
he lived ; he was misunderstood by the enlightened, and 
misrepresented by the bigoted who sympathized with 
their brethren of the Bay. His attachment appears never 
to have been withdrawn from the people of Salem, who 
reciprocated the warmth of his regard and invited his 
return. • So great was the respect and love entertained 
^Y^^„, for him at Plymouth, that it was not without difficulty 

10 3!]. be obtained his dismissal from the church, through the 
influence of Brewster, the ruling elder, who was one of 
those who dreaded the effect of his opinions. It illus- 
trates the singular power which, through his whole life, 
Roger Williams exerted on the minds of his companions, 
whether savage or civilized, that several members of the 
Plymouth church, unwilling to be sej^arated from him, 
desired their dismission at the same time and followed him 
to Salem.- Here he again assisted Mr. Skelton, whose 
health was rapidly failing. 

Now, within the jurisdiction of the Bay, was resumed 
a conflict between the despotic spirit of theocracy and the 
genius of intellectual liberty, which was to result in the 
temporary triumph of arbitrary power over abstract right ; 
which was to call into existence an independent State, 
and finally to achieve the emancipation cf the human soul 
from the thraldom of priestly oppression. It should be 
borne in mind that in most of the points of dispute which 

' Backus, i. 5G. ^ Morton's Memorial, 151. 



MISREPEESENTATIONS CONCERNING WILLIAMS. 25 

now arose Williams was not alone or even foremost in the chap. 
discussion, wliile in respect to some of the most important ,^^..^,^ 
encroacliments of the Court upon the rights of the people 16 3 3. 
all the inhabitants of Salem were with him. His de- 
tractors have delighted to represent him as if he were the 
only thorn in the side of the authorities, the sole distm-ber 
of fraternal harmony in the otherwise happy family of the 
Puritans. To fasten upon Koger Williams the stigma of 
factious opposition to government, as has often been 
attempted, is to behe history by an effort to vindicate 
bigotry and tyranny at the expense of truth. It is a 
memorable fact, which a careful examination of the evi- 
dence presented by the Puritan writers themselves will 
establish, that of the many singular and bitter contro- 
versies which raged at this time, in most of which Koger 
Williams bore a conspicuous part, and for all of which his 
enemies have endeavored to make him solely responsible, 
only one was initiated by him, save that which has become 
his crowning glory. The contentious spirit with which 
he has been charged was characteristic of the age in which 
he lived, and eminently so of the society in which he 
moved. Transition periods are necessarily eras of agita- 
tion, more or less prolonged according to the importance 
of the principles to be evolved. In this case the Protes- 
tant reformation had opened a discussion, in the 1 6th 
century, involving the dearest rights of humanity, which 
had already convulsed all Europe, and was about to sub- 
vert the ancient monarchy of England. To establish the 
inherent right of private judgment, the free agency of the 
mind in spiritual matters, — this was the grand result 
towards which a hundred years of toil and strife, in camp 
and court, in school and closet, were slowly tending. In 
the controversy which directly led to this result, WilHams 
had many ardent friends among his Puritan compeers, the 
more perhaps from his bearing only a secondary part in 
the subordinate agitations which first occurred. 



26 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP. A meeting of the ministers, held at each other's houses, 

..^^.^.^^ to debate " questions of moment," inspired the cautious 
16 33. mind of Skelton with fear lest^ '' it might grow in time to 
a presbytery, or superintendency, to the prejudice of the 
church's liberties." In this feeling Williams shared, but 
I'emained passive, while Skelton openly denounced the 
frequent meetings of the clergy."- They had both seen 
enough of priestly arrogance in England to dread its 
appearance in America. Already had the interference of 
the Court at Boston, at the instigation of the ministers, 
given warning of the actual usurpation from which the 
church at Salem was shortly to suffer. Liberty is rarely 
subverted at a single blow. Its foundations are sapped by 
gradual and regular approaches under the guise of lawful 
authority, and often in the very name of freedom itself. 
These manifestations could not escape the vigilance of the 
Salem pastors, or fail to fill their minds with anxious fore- 
bodings. The event justified the anxiety of these watch- 
ful guardians of public liberty, notwithstanding the 
remark of the amiable Winthrop, who was soon to feel 
in his own person the fickleness of popular favor, with- 
drawn at the dictation of the clergy, that " this fear was 
without cause." 

The custom of women wearing veils in public formed 
a theme of pulpit discussion at that time, which has un- 
justly been charged upon Williams. The earnestness of 
Endicott and the eloquence of Cotton upon this topic are 
recorded by contemporary writers. It has remained for 
the ignorance or the ill-will of more recent times, to cast 
upon Koger Williams the absurdity of a controversy wdiich 
began before his arrival,^ and in which there is no reliable 
evidence to prove that he took a prominent part.^ 

' Wiutlirop, i. 117. '' Boutlcy's Salem, 218. = Beutley, 245. 

^ Hubbard is tbe earliest Puritan writer who connects tlie name of Wil- 
liams "witb this ridiculous controversy. His tirade upon Roger AVilliams. 
chap. 30, General History of New England, is the soui-ce whence most of the 
abuse of the Founder of Rhode Island is derived, wherein he is closely fob 



PROCEEDINGS AGAINST WILLIAMS. 27 

More serious difficulties soon arose. During Williams' chap. 
residence at Plymoutli, he had written a treatise upon .__;_ 
the royal patent, under which the Massachusetts colony 16 3 3. 
held their lands, wherein he maintained that the planters 
could have no just title escept what they derived from 
the Indians. The Court, as usual, took advice of the 
ministers, "who much condemned Mr. Wilhams' error 
and presumption, and were greatly offended at these 
three passages : "1. For that he chargeth King James to 
have told a solemn puhlic lie, because in his patent he 
blesses God that he was the first Christian prince that 
had discovered this land : 2. For that he chargeth him and 
others with blasphemy for calling Europe Christendom, or 
the Christian world : 3. For that he did personally apply 
to our present King, Charles, these three places in theEe- 
velation, viz."' As to the first j)oint, we are at loss to 
discover any very strong grounds for clerical indignation. 
If it was "presumption" in Williams to deny to the reigning 
family the honor of discovery, it certainly was not an 
error. To the Tudors, and not to the Stuarts, that 
honor belongs. It was under the auspices of Henry VII., 
more than a century before James I. ascended the throne, 
that New England was discovered.'^ Politically Williams 

lowed by Cotton Mather a few years later. Other portions of his history are 
equally unreUable ; in fact, nowhere is he to be trusted as an original author- 
ity. His prejudices color his whole narrative. His plagiarisms and his care- 
lessness are sufficiently exposed by the diligent editor of Winthrop, in an am- 
ple note on p. 296, vol. i., to which the reader is referred. 

" Mr. Savage's note at this place should he cited : " Perhaps the same 
expressions, by another, would have given less offence. From Williams they 
were not at first received in the mildest, or even the most natural sense ; 
though further reflection satisfied the magistrates, that his were not danger- 
ous. The passages from the Apocalypse were probably not applied to the 
honor of the King, and I regret, therefore, that Winthrop did not preserve 
them." — IVinihrop, i. 102. In his 2d edition, p. 145, Mr. S. adds : "No com- 
plaint of such indiscretion would have been expressed ten years later, when 
the mother country far outran the colony in these perversions of Scripture." 

^ The author does not propose to discuss the question of the Ante -Colum- 
bian discovery of America. If the claim of the Danish writers for their 



28 HISTOEY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, may have been presumptuous ; liistorically he was correct 
,^,}^.^^ in this first charge. That the second point should have 
16 3 3. given offence, displays more earnestness to preserve the 
royal favor than zeal in the cause which they considered to 
be the only true one. Men who had repeatedly denied the 
Christianity of Europe, need not so suddenly have become 
indignant that one of their number should write what all 
of them s]3oke and believed. This spasmodic loyalty may be 
attributed to a fear lest the influence of Laud, Archbishop 
of Canterbury, should so far prevail with the Crown as to 
lead to a repeal of the New England patent. The solicitude 
for the honor of the king, manifested in the third stated 
ground of offence, furnishes an amusing contrast to the 
conduct of the same reverend legislators a few years later. 
The arbitrary action of the Court, in calling for a paper 
Dec. written beyond the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, " for the 
*■ private satisfaction of the Governor of Plymouth," and 
which had never been published, would have been properly 
resented by refusing to obey the summons. None of his 
persecutors in those days, or of his detractors in later times, 
ever displayed a more Christian, or less "contentious 
spirit," than did Williams on this occasion. He " offered 
the book, or any part of it, to be burnt, and gave satisfac- 
tion of his intention and loyalty." On a further examina- 
]G33-4. tion of the offensive passages by the council, "they found 
24.* the matters not to be so evil as at first they seemed." Thus 
the subject rested for a few months until it was found con- 
venient again to call it up. 

Ujion the death of Mr. Skelton, the church ordained 
Roger Wilhams as their pastor, although the Court a sec- 



uortliern progenitors were fully established, identifying New England, and es- 
pecially Rhode Island, ■nith the Vineland of Icelandic explorers, it would 
have no bearing upon the New England of our day ; while in the present 
state of the subject it is more a matter for archajological investigation than of 
historical research. For a view of this jwint see R. I. Hist. Coil's, iv. Ap. 2, 
and for the whole subject, Prof. Rafin's Antiquitates Americante. 



PKOCEEDINGS AGAINST WILLIAMS. 29 

ond time interfered to prevent it. We shall presently see chap. 
how severely their contumacy was punished. ^^-^-^^ 

In the autumn Williams was again summoned to ap- 16 3 4. 
pear at Court, for promulgating his views concerning the 
patent. When we remember that the practice of the 27. 
Puritans accorded precisely with the theory of Williams, 
in respect to the Indian titles — that all the land they oc- 
cupied, except what they found deserted, owing to the 
pestilence which preceded the arrival of the Pilgrims, had 
been purchased by them of the original proprietors — we 
cannot discover in the ostensible reasons for this second 
arrest, any sufficient cause for such treatment. That he 
took what we should consider a needless exception to the 
language of the patent is apparent. Perhaps he thought 
that words are sometimes things. The sense of justice 
which formed so striking a feature of his character, com- 
pelled him to deny the royal claim to possession by right 
of discovery. Yet this language was in itself harmless so 
long as it remamed merely a form of kingly phraseology. 
We are forced to the conclusion that the real reasons for 
pursuing this matter are not upon the record, and that 
the repeated refusal of the Salem church to permit the 
interference of the Court in their choice of a teacher was 
the principal cause. Thife opinion is strengthened by the 
fact that after this time we hear nothing further of the 
controversy about the pa;tent ; more tangible and serious 
causes of complaint being found by the Court. 

One other subordinate point remains to be noticed be- 
fore we arrive at the immediate causes of the banishment 1035 
of Roger Williams. The conduct of Endicott in cutting May. 
out the cross from the national colors, for which singular 
action he was suspended from office for one year by order 
of the Court, has been ascribed to the influence of Wil- 
liams, who has been made, as in the dispute about veils, 
the convenient author of most of the erratic deeds and no- 
tions of the times. The opposition to Popery and all its 



30 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, symbols, whicli formed so deep a feeling in the Puritan 
^,^1^.^^ mind, was tlie real cause of this unwarrantable act of the 
16 3 5. Salem magistrate. That Williams countenanced the act 
is nowhere asserted, unless such a construction be given 
to the language of Hubbard.^ Even Mather, who cannot 
be suspected of any bias in favor of Williams, says of this 
proceeding, " that he was but obliquely and remotely con- 
cerned in it." - How far he may be considered as morally 
responsible for this application of an abstract opinion 
which he entertained in common with his fellows, is 
rather a question of ethics than of history. The clear- 
ness with which he discerned the dividing line between 
civil and spiritual concerns, in an age when these subjects 
had scarcely begun to attract public attention, forbids the 
idea that he advised the mutilation of the ensigns. The 
subject afterwards assumed a much greater prominence ; 
the Court, at first divided in opinion as to the lawfulness 
^rarch -^f ^]^Q cross, at length ordered the ensigns to be laid aside 
entirely, two months before Endicott, from motives of 
Miiy policy, was disgraced for defacing them ; and when a year 
later, at the request of certain shipmasters, these colors 
were hoisted upon the castle, it was done " with the pro- 
testation, that we held the cross in the ensign idolatrous, 
and therefore might not set it up in our own ensigns." ^ 
This was subsequent to the banishment of Williams, and 
furnishes fair presumptive evidence to acquit him of re- 
sponsibility for this singular transaction. 

A more serious occasion for complaint was found in the 
views entertained by Williams on the nature of judicial 
■^VpJ'I oaths. He was cited before the council for teaching "that 
a magistrate ought not to tender an oath to an unre- 
generate man." It appears that he considered taking an 
oath to be in itself an act of worshiji, recognizing as it 
does the existence and power of a Supreme Being, and 

' Hubbard, ch. 80, p. 205, in which he is followed by Hutchinson, 1, 38. 
- Magnalia, B. 7,.ch. 2, § 8. ^ June IG, 163G, Winthrop, ii. 3U. 



6. 



30. 



THE freeman's OATH. 31 

hence, as a direct result of bis views in respect to liberty chap. 
of conscience, be denied the right of any one to enforce it. _;^ 
There was nothing in this proposition to excite alarm, so 16 3 5. 
lono; as it did not come in conflict with the tenets of the 
ministers or the designs of the magistrates. 

Passages in his writings indicate that he had long en- 
tertained, and in some cases had suffered losses in chan- 
cery on account of his views on this subject, which in 
some respects resemble those held by the Society of 
Friends, and for which, to this day, they are liable to pe- 
cuniary damage by the laws of England. Very soon, 
however, the action of the Court, in requiring a new oath 
to be taken by all the citizens, brought Williams' abstract 
notions into practical opposition. Alarmed at the rumors 
of " some Episcopal and malignant practices against the 
country," the Court decreed that an oath of fidelity to 
the laws of the colony should be taken by all freemen. It 
will be remembered that "the freeman's oath" had already 
been taken by all who were admitted freemen of the colony. 
The terms in which it was expressed, requiring obedience 
to laws which should be "lawfully" made by the Court, 
acknowledged the charter as the fundamental law, and the 
source whence it was derived as the sovereign power. But 
this new oath of fidelity ignored the charter, and bound 
the citizens to obey the acts of the Legislature without 
reference to their compatibility with the laws of England. 
What right had the magistrates, with their ever present 
counsellors, the clergy, to adopt this new law ? There 
were more reasons for Williams' earnest hostility to the 
measure than his enemies saw fit to assign. The charter, 
although general in its terms, was yet a safe guide in the 
broad principles of legislation. No laws repugnant to those 
of England could be enacted under it. It shielded the 
colonists from the possible tyranny of the king, and pro- 
tected them from the more probable despotism of their own 
local magistrates. A friend of popular liberty might well 



32 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

be alarmed at a movement designed to destroy the only 
guarantee of freedom, and whatever his abstract opinions 
in regard to oaths may have been, the illegality of the 
measure was enough to ensure the opposition of Williams. 
It appears that he was not alone in this opposition. So 
many were found to resist the unlawful attempt, that for 
a time "the Court was forced to desist from that proceed- 
ing." It was not until the spirit of free inquiry was more 
effectually checked, and submission compelled by the coer- 
cive jiolicy of the Court, that the act was finally passed, 
and the oath enforced, under severe penalties, upon every 
man over sixteen years of age. 

While the authorities, and especially the ministers, 
were thus diligent in establishing their power over the 
colonists, seeking to punish as seditious persons all those 
wlio ventured to exercise their freedom by calling in ques- 
tion the acts of the Legislature, they were aiming to ac- 
complish a virtual independence of the mother country. 
At the very time they were arraigning WilHams as an 
enemy to the patent, for his too faithful defence of the 
rights of the Indians, and disgracing Endicott for mutilat- 
ing ensigns which they had already laid aside as idola- 
trous, they were nullifying their charter by decreeing an 
oath of fidelity to themselves, and were preparing for 
more overt acts of treason, should circumstances render 
it expedient. The council, alarmed by the evidence of 
serious designs against the colony, fomented by the high 
church party in England, convened the clergy to con- 
sider " what ought to be done if a general governor 
lb. should be sent out of England." Four months prior to 
this, unusual activity was displayed in completing the 
fortifications, when these designs were first detected, and 
the idea of resistance to the home government was freely 
canvassed by the General Court. Thus early was the 
spirit of colonial independence entertained by the fathers 
of Massachusetts, while as yet they were ignorant of the 



Jau 



POLICY OF THE PURITANS. 33 



10 8 5. 



leading principles of national freedom, and were pursuing chap 
a policy fatal to the existence of pojralar liberty. That 
they should conceive the idea of eventual separation from 
the mother-country as an act of necessity, was natural 
and commendable under the circumstances in which they 
were placed ; but that they should at the same time ar- 
raign Williams for a constructive hostility to the patent 
they were designing to supplant, and degrade Endicott 
for violating colors which they had already disowned, was 
inconsistent in itself, and accords with the real motive 
which animated the dominant class — to make inde- 
pendence of England the means of establishing a theo- 
cratic despotism at home. The republican feeling with 
which the name of independence is associated in our 
minds was unknown to the authorities of Massachu- 
setts. At this time there was no sympathy Avith the 
spirit of progress in the stern assemblies of the Puri- 
tans. The all-pervading element of religious contro- 
versy had withered every generous sentiment and dried 
up the fountain of Christian benevolence. No respect 
was felt for individual opinions, and no regard was 
shown for private rights, that conflicted in any degree 
with the rules of a coldly intellectual system of theology. 
The sanctity of domestic life was disturbed by the sur- 
veillance of the State. Even parents were known to re- 
port to the magistrates incautious remarks made by tlieir 
children in the familiar intercourse of home. Cotton, 
whose influence was paramount in the colony, preached 
publicly " that a magistrate ought not to be turned into 
the condition of a private man without just cause," a doc- 
trine calculated to perpetuate power in the hands of men 
over whom the clergy already exercised unbounded con- 
trol. The strong common sense of the Puritan masses re- 
jected the dangerous dogma, but was not sufficient, as yet, 
to withstand the organized efforts of the magistrates and 
clergy. Every thing in the pohty of Massachusetts was 



34 HISTOEY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, made subservient to the interests of the State, and that 

___, State was virtually and exclusively the Puritan church. 

1 6 o 5. ]S[o wonder that religious toleration and political freedom 
were alike abhorrent to its rulers, or that the conscience 
which could not accept an oath designed to perpetuate 
despotism was treated as an enemy to the State. 

The punishment inflicted upon the people of Salem 
for the alleged contempt of installing Koger Williams, 
contrary to the repeated remonstrance of the Court, was 
characteristic, and illustrates the incongruous mingling 

May of temporal and spiritual affairs which must exist with a 
'^- church and state establishment. The authorities of Sa- 
lem petitioned the General Court for some adjacent land 
which they considered as belonging to their town. The 
l^etition was refused, " because they had chosen Mr. Wil- 
liams as their teacher." This was certainly an extraor- 
dinary reason to assign for denying an act of justice. The 
Salem people so considered it, and Williams may be par- 
doned for having united with the whole body of his parish- 
ioners in an earnest protest against what they considered 
to be a flagrant wrono-. The church at Salem addressed 
letters to the other churches desiring them to remonstrate 
with the magistrates and deputies who were their mem- 
bers on account of this injustice, and warning them of the 
danger to which their liberties were exposed. This appeal 
to the people brought no relief Popular sentiment was 
not so keenly alive to a sense of violated right, or so vigi- 
lant in guarding the out2:)Osts of freedom, as it is in our 

j,,]v day. At the next General Court the deputies from Salem 
''^- were refused their scats until their constituents " should 

y give satisfaction about the letter."^ Subsequently Mr. 

1. Endicott protested against the action of the Court, and 

' Wiutlirop, i. IG-i. JFr. Savage here justly rcmai'ks, in a note: ''This 
tlenial, or penx-rsioii of justice, by postpouement of a hearing, on a fpiestion 
of temporal right, for some spiritual deficiency in the church or pastor, will 
not permit us to think that the judges of Williams were free from all blame 
in producing his schism." 



"WILLIAMS SUMMONED BEFOEE THE COUET. 35 

justified the Salem letter; for which exercise of his rights chap. 
as a citizen he was committed by order of the government ^• 
until he acknowledged his fault. By such arbitrary meas- 1 G 3 5. 
ures, the authorities were shortly to subdue the manly op- 
position of the people of Salem, and to rule without re- 
straint over their submissive subjects. 

At the same Court which disfranchised the Salem ^ , 
-tTT'ii- 1 July 

deputies, Eoger Williams was summoned to answer 8. 

"for divers dangerous opinions, viz. : — 1, that the ma- 
gistrate ought not to punish the breach of the first 
table otherwise than in such cases as did disturb the 
civil peace; 2, that he ought not to tender an oath 
to an unregenerate man; 3, that a man ought not 
to pray with such, though wife, child, &c.; 4, that a 
man ought not to give thanks after the sacrament nor 
after meat." To what has already been said upon the 
first two points, it is only necessary to add, that the con- 
cluding clause of the first charge proves that Williams' 
views were not opposed to civil magistracy, as has been 
represented, but only to the extension of authority over 
subjects for which man is alone amenable to his Maker. 
With respect to the third charge, there is nothing in Wil- 
liams' writings to show that • he entertained the views 
therein expressed. It should be borne in mind that the 
only reports we have of his opinions, during the ordeal 
through which he was made to pass while a minister at 
Salem, are given by his opponents, of whom Winthrop is 
the earliest writer, and the only one who was superior to 
the influence of prejudice. And we know that inferences 
from his abstract notions, drawn by those less skilful in lo- 
gical deduction than himself, have been recorded as his 
real opinions, and that, with equal recklessness, he has 
been charged with acts which he never committed, but 
which were supposed by his enemies to be the legitimate 
results of views which they could not comprehend.' Wheth- 

' Morton, Hubbard, ilather, and other nearly cotemporary writers, have 
erred in this way ; e. g. Morton's Memorial, 153, says, " he would not jn-ay 



36 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, cr in this case he entertaiiied the precise views alleged 
,^_,_^ against him or not, is of little importance. If he did, it 
1 G 3 0. may he attributed to the effect of the prevailing idea of 
English worship, where all present are supposed fervently 
to unite in the prescribed forms of prayer, however incon- 
sistent may he their lives. An undue prejudice may have 
biased his judgment in this particular. The fourth alle- 
gation is immaterial otherwise than as evidence of his wis- 
dom and zeal in opposing the attemjit to establish by law 
" a uniform order of discij)line in the churches." Uni- 
formity, the rock upon which, a century before, the reform- 
ed church of England had well-nigh been wrecked, and 
which ever since had been the princijjal occasion of diffi- 
culty, which had led to the expatriation of the Pilgrims, 
and to the emancij)ation of the Puritans, was about to be 
attempted in Massachusetts. The Court had already 
taken measures to accomplish this object, and, if, as prob- 
able, these minor observances were to form a part of the 
religious system, we can well understand why Williams 
should oppose them. 

But these errors of doctrine aj^pear to have had less 
weight in determining the action of the Court than did 
the '• contempt of authority," by the Salem church, 
of which he was both the instrument and the victim. 
Church and pastor were each warned to expect sentence 
at the next General Court, unless satisfaction should mean- 
wliile be given. For two years this harassing treatment 
had continued with little intermission. Wilhams' health 
failed under the accmnulated burden of pastoral duties 
and legal vexations. While in this condition, " being- 
sick and uot able to speak, he wrote to liis church a pro- 



Axv: 
10. 



nor give tlianks at ineals with his own wii'e," S:c. Hubbard copies him ver- 
batim. A more open slander ilather in his History has exposed, although 
with no good intent to Williams, in I\Iagnaha, B. 7 ch. 2, § 6, which is cited 
by Knowles, 69, who significantly adds : " We may wonder, nevertheless, that 
Mr. Williams has not been accused of starving his children, to the horror of 
succeeding s-enerations ! " 



BANISHMENT OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 37 

testation, that he could not communicate with the churches chap. 
in the Bay ; neither would he communicate with them, .^^.^ 
except they would refuse communion with the rest." The 16 3 5. 
cup of his anguish was full when he penned this last epistle, 
the only one upon the record of this protracted contro- 
versy of which even his enemies could say that " it was 
written in wrath ; " nor can we know that the apparent 
bitterness of his rebuke did not spring from a spirit more 
in sorrow than in anger. 

The period of his sufferings was shortly to terminate. 
The letter of the Salem church was an unpardonable sin, 
which he, as its author, was to expiate, while that ad- 
dressed to his parishioners was considered an equally 
proper subject of judicial condemnation. For the fifth and 
last time he was summoned by the authorities to appear 
at the next General Court, where these two letters were Oct. 
presented as the sole charges against him. He justified 
their contents, and remained immoved by the arguments 
of Hooker, who was appointed to dispute with him. The 
result was a decree of banishment in these words : 
"Whereas Mr. Eoger Williams, one of the elders of the JSov. 
church of Salem, hath broached and divulged divers new 
and dangerous opinions, against the authority of magis- 
trates ; as also writ letters of defamation, both of the 
magistrates and churches here, and that before any con- 
\dction, and yet maintaineth the same without any re- 
tractation ; it is therefore ordered, that the said Mr. Wil- 
liams shall depart out of this jurisdiction within six weeks 
now next ensuing, which, if he neglect to perform, it shall 
be lawful for the ^governor and two of the magistrates to 
send him to some place out of this jurisdiction, not to re- 
turn any more without license from the Court."'- It is a 

' Winthrop says the sentence was passed " the nest morning " after the 
examination by the General Court, -which met in Oct., but the colonial rec- 
ords, -which -we adopt as being documentary e-vidence, fix the date Nov. ,Sd. 
jIu explanation of the discrepancy may perhaps be found in the fact recorded 



38 HISTOKY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND. 

CUAP. singular fact, that in tliis Court, composed of magistrates 
.^^^.^^ and clergy, while some of the laymen opposed the decree, 
10 3 5. every minister, save one, approved it. A practical com- 
mentary is thus afforded on the danger of uniting the 
civil and ecclesiastical administrations. It suggests the 
reflection that, of all characters, the most dangerous and 
the most despticahle is the political j)riest. 

Liberty to remain until sjiring was afterward granted 
him, accompanied by the injunction that he should refrain 
from disseminating his opinions, a restriction not easy to be 
borne by an earnest mind, conscious of i^ossessing important 
truths and actively employed in diffusing them. To con- 
tinue his connection with the Salem church was incompat- 
ible with his present position. The church, subdued by the 
severity of the Court, surrendered at discretion, and apolo- 
gized for the offensive letter. The lands for which they had 
petitioned and been refused, were soon afterwards grantetl 
to them. The stern exercise of power, although it accom- 
plished its purpose in breaking the sj)irit of the people, could 
not alienate their affections from one who had been their 
fearless champion and devoted pastor. Great was the grief 
in Salem when the sentence of banishment was pronounced, 
1G35-G. an^^ many prepared to follow him into exile. The per- 
J^'"- mission to remain until spring was suddenly withdrawn at 
a meeting of the council, and las immediate departure for 
England, in a ship then ready to sail, was resolved upon. 
The reason of this harsh treatment was that he had jiro- 
mulgated his views amons; those friends who visited him 
at his own house, and was planning a settlement in Narra- 
ganset Bay, which was considered as being too near for 

by "VVinthrop, that " a month's respite " was offered him to prepare for the 
disputation, but " he chose to dispute presently." When the dispute witli 
Hooker was ended, the Court doubtless agreed upon the sentence, as Winthrop 
states, but still indulged him with the month's respite before entering up the 
judgment, which seems to have been formally done at a meeting of the Court 
of Assistants, Nov. 3d, as appears by the record, which is therefore the proper 
date to assign for this important event in the lite of Williams. 



WILLIAMS ESCAPES TO SEEKONK, 39 

the safety of Puritan institutions. An order was sent for ciiai'. 
him to come to Boston, which he declined to do. A boat ^;_ 
was then despatched to take him by force and place him 16 3 6. 
on board the ship. Warned by the previous order, he 
had already escaped three days before, no one knew 
whither. Leaving his wife and two infant children, he set 
out alone in midwinter to perform that arduous journey of 
which, thirty-five years later, he wrote, " I was sorely tossed 
for one fourteen weeks, in a bitter winter season, not know- 
ing what bed or bread did mean.'"' Happily for the world, 
and most fortunately, as the event soon proved, for the 
people of New England, he eluded the vigilance of his 
pursuers. Had their designs succeeded, the grasp of in- 
tellect and the energy of purpose which- had evolved the 
grand idea of religious toleration, and was about to estab- 
lish it as the primary article in the government of a State, 
would have been transferred to another field of action, and 
generations might have passed away, in the stormy period 
of English history then commencing, before the man and 
the opportunity again arose to test the great experiment ; 
while the removal of the only man in New England who 
could control the elements of Indian warfare, might have 
given another and fatal termination to the desperate strug- 
gle which Pequot cruelty was preparing. 

Driven from the society of civilized man, and debarred 
the consolations of Christian sympathy, Williams turned 
his steps southward, to find among heathen savages the boon 
of charity which was refused at home. The now venerable 
Ousamequin, who sixteen years before had first welcomed 
the weary Pilgrims to his shores, and with whom Williams, 
during his residence at Plymouth, had contracted a friend- 
ship, received with open arms the lonely and twice-exiled 
Puritan. From him Williams obtained a grant of land 
near what is now called Cove Mills, on the eastern bank 
of Seekonk river, where he built a house, and commenced 
planting with the view of permanent residence. But this \|„ii. 



40 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

was not to be his home. In the quaint scriptural lan- 
guage of the day, " he had tarried on this side Jordan, while 

16 3 6. the promised land lay still Ijeyond." He was soon advised 
by his friend Gov. Winslow that, as his plantation was 
within the limits of Plymouth colony, who " were loath to 
displease the Bay, he should remove to the other side of 
the water." This he resolved to do, and in company with 
five others, who appear to have followed him from Salem, 
lie embarked in his canoe to find at length a resting-place 
on the free hills of Providence. Tradition has preserved 
the shout of welcome, " What cheer, netop,"' which 
greeted his landing at " Slate Rock ;" jjoetry has em- 
balmed it in enduring verse ; good taste affixed the name, 
" what cheer " to the adjacent farm, and even the spirit 
of enterprise and the growth of population, which have 
thrown these broad lands into the market of a proud and 
prosperous city, have respected the consecrated spot, and 
reserved " What Cheer Square," Avith its primeval rock, 
forever to mark the place where the weary feet of Roger 
WiUiams first pressed the soil of Providence.'- Pursuing 
their course from Slate Rock around the headland of Tock- 
wotten, passing what are now called India and Fox points, 
they entered the Moshasuck river, and sailing up what was 
then a broad and beautiful sheet of water, skirted by a 
dense forest, their attention was attracted by a spring close 
on the margin of the stream, where they landed, and com- 
menced a settlement, to which, in gratitude to his supreme 

■h\ iif. deliverer, Williams gave the name of Providence. 

There is a singular confusion among the writers as to 

' How are you, friend ? " What cheer, netop, is the general sahitatiou of 
all English toward them (the Indians). Ndop is friend." — R. W.'s Key to the 
Indian Lanrjuage, ch. 1. 

" The writer hopes that the Rhode Island of the twentieth century will 
not have occasion to question the accuracy of his narrative, hy finding that 
the aforesaid square has never been laid out, unless upon some then long-lost 
plat, and that Slate Rock exists only in the pages of liistor}'. At present 
there seems a likelihood of this. 



FOUNDATION OF PROVIDENCE. 41 

the period at which this memorable event occurred, arising chap. 
rather from ignorance or carelessness than from the absence ..^^^^„^ 
of authentic data. The precise day of Williams arrival 163 6. 
at Seekonk, or at Providence, cannot be determined, but 
both events may be established with sufficient accuracy 
for historical purposes. The Massachusetts records fix 
the date of his banishment, and also the proximate time 
of his flight, early in January, from which time the " four- 
teen weeks," that he describes as the period of his wander- 
ing, would establish his settlement at Seekonk about the 
middle of April, near the usual planting time of this region. 
The warning letter from Gov. Winslow, after he had " be- 
gun to build and plant at Seekonk," makes it certain that 
lie was there after March, 1636, at which time Mr. Wins- 
low became governor of Plymouth, and the only year 
between 1633 and 1G44 in which he held that office. A 
letter to Gov. Vane of Massachusetts from Mr. Williams 
is dated from Providence, July 26, proving that he had 
already been some time in his new plantation ; so that in 
placing the foundation of Providence in June, 1636, we 
feel assured of a tolerable degree of accuracy. 

In reviewing the measures which led to the banishment 
of Koger Wilhams, we find that they all proceeded from 
the firmness with which, upon every occasion, he main- 
tained the doctrine that the civil power has no control 
over the religious oj)inions of men. To adapt this new 
theory to practical life was to effect a revolution in the 
existing systems of government ; to sever the chain, which, 
since the days of Constantino, had linked theology to the 
throne ; to restore to the free mind the distinctive, but 
long-fettered gift of Deity — free agency ; and, in fine, to 
embody in civil polity that principle, but dimly un- 
derstood by the Reformers, which, from Wittenberg to 
Rome, in the cloister and the camp, had aroused the spirit 
of all Europe — the right of private judgment. 

The entire separation of Church and State had already 



42 HISTOKY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

t iiAP. been advocated by a small portion of English dissenters, 

'^ consisting of Baptists and Independents, but the great 

1 •' 3 0. majority of Puritans, as we have seen, still maintained tlic 
prerogative of the crown to interpose in matters of faith. 
Their chief objections to the English Church related to 
forms and ceremonies, and these they sought to alter. 
Persex)ution failed to make tliem liberal or tolerant to the 
scruples of others. 

The right of every man to worship God according to 
his ovv'n conscience, untranmielled by written articles of 
faith, and inlawed by the civil power, implies a degree of 
advancement in moral science and political philosophy, 
utterly at variance with the tone of feeling in that age. 
If to this assertion of natural right we add the denial of 
any power in civil government to enquire even whether a 
citizen believes in the existence of God, we have a propo- 
sition far more bold than many wliicli had already led a 
host of martyrs to the gibbet and the stake. Yet this 
was the sentiment which, in those days of political dark- 
ness, Eoger WiUiams had the clearness to discover, and the 
courage to defend. He dared assert the freedom of the 
soul. Thus was introduced a new principle in political 
science, by eradicating an old element of civil polity. 
The church was no longer to be a portion of the state, 
and the state must undergo a thorough re-organization, 
when deprived of its powerful auxiliary. Roger Wil- 
liams saw that government could be more efficient in its 
object and more just to its citizens, if independent of the 
church ; and he knew that the church could best sustain 
its spiritual nature when freed from the clogs of state. 
Religion, ethics, and politics, as now received, are alike 
indebted to him for their fundamental principle. 

Yet plain and immutable as these truths appear tons, 
they were but dimly comprehended by the wisest states- 
men two centuries ago. Their exponent was driven to 
found a new state, which should illustrate the great prin- 



CHARACTEK OF THE PURITANS, 43 

ciples for wliicli he contended. From England he had fled ciiAr. 
to Massachusetts, seeking sympathy among those who ^^J^^^^ 
had suffered with him in a common cause. But affliction, 1 6 ;J 6. 
which should serve to soften tlic heart to the sufferings of 
others, seemed only to increase the acerbity of tlie Puri- 
tans. Even among the ministers of Christ, from wliom lie 
might expect forbearance, if not kindness, he met his 
most virulent enemies. By their influence he was banished, 
and escaping to the headwaters of the Narragansett, he 
found a spot in the pathless wilderness, where he could 
rear a temple of liberty, consecrated to the Lord of the 
whole earth, before whose ample shrine Jew and Gentile, 
bond and free, might each worship God according to the 
dictates of his own conscience. 

Although the conduct of the Puritans in this trans- 
action cannot be justified, it may admit of palliation. It 
is a source of regret to be compelled, from the nature of 
the subject, to treat chiefly of the dark side of characters 
who possessed so much true piety and essential greatness 
of soul — to apologize for their errors and expose their 
obliquities. 

We observe in the Fathers of Massachusetts a degree 
of virtue and intelligence, and a supreme regard for the 
dictates of religion, and for the preservation of a sound 
morality, such as has never fallen to the lot of any other 
country in its early history. The germs of a powerful 
state, competent to give laws to the world, and to trans- 
mit the heritage of a wise exam})le to future generations, 
are seen in the feel)le band of Pilgrims, planted on Ply- 
moutli rock, and in the throng of earnest Puritans gath- 
ered along the shores and headlands of Massachusetts 
Bay. But while we recognize these noble attributes in 
the men who persecuted Iloger Williams for opinion's 
sake, justice requires that we should relate facts as they 
occurred without abatement or reservation. We may re- 
gret the conduct of our ancestors, but we are not entitled 



44 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, to defend, or to extenuate, tlieir errors. We may account 
^^_^ for tliem from the circumstances of the case, and may show 
16 3 6. that they originated in an honest misapprehension of 
principles, thereby proving that the actors, though mis- 
taken, were consistent, and that their sins were rather of 
the head than of the heart. This view we adopt in our 
judgment of the Puritans. 

In estimating their characters, we are too aj^t to judge 
them by the light of the present day. Two centuries of 
progress have wrought so great a change in opinions and 
views, by increasing so largely our fund of knowledge, 
that what was expedient or proper, or even right in those 
times, would be justly regarded as absurd or erroneous in 
this n^e. We miolit as well revile our ancestors for the 
use of the handloom, since modern science has introduced 
self-moving machinery, as to denounce them for not acting 
upon principles, which, in their day, were unrecognized in 
civil polity. They founded a colony for their own faith 
without any idea of tolerating others. For doing this, 
they have been charged with bigotry, fanaticism and folly. 
Every epithet has been applied to them that can be em- 
ployed to express detestation of the conduct of men acting 
under a sober conviction of truth. Regarding their con- 
duct from the standpoint of the nineteenth century, all 
this may be just. The like proceedings in this age would 
deserve the severest sentence of condemnation. But not 
so two hundred years ago. The bigotry of the Puritans 
was the bigotry of their times. In every act they illus- 
trated the spirit of the age. They committed some wrongs, 
for which, even with all this allowance, we are at a loss to 
account, which seem to us unpardonable, and to these we 
shall have occasion to refer ; but intolerance is not one of 
them. Toleration was a word conveying to their minds 
an image of terror. It was so held in England and 
throughout Europe, The principle was regarded with 
the same heartfelt abhorrence that conservative statesmen 



CAUSES OF PURITAN INTOLERANCE. 45 

now express for the feculent emanations of the Jacobin cuap. 
chibs of France ; for, to their minds, it was attended with ..^J:^,^ 
the like fatal results. The simple cobbler of Agawam in- 16 3 6. 
forms us that " he who is willing to tolerate any religion, 
or discrepant way of religion, besides his own, unless it be 
in matters merely indifferent, either doubts of his own, or 
is not sincere in it." To the same end, and about the 
same time, the illustrious Bossuet was employing his al- 
most superhuman eloquence to obtain tlie royal interfer- 
ence in enforcing the supremacy of the Papal church. The 
churches of Scotland and England were alike zealous in 
eff'ecting uniformity. Edwards, an eminent divine of that 
period, says, " Toleration will make the kingdom a chaos, 
is the grand work of the devil, is a most transcendental 
Catholic and fundamental evil." This was the policy of 
Massachusetts Bay, and with this state of public opinion 
among themselves, and these high authorities to counte- 
nance them abroad, we cannot in fairness condemn them 
for desiring to free the colonies of all dissenters. The 
abuse of their principles arose mainly from the tenacity 
with which they maintained them, and the trying situa- 
tion in which they were placed. Had their own views 
been more liberal, we may well doubt whether the home 
government, actuated by the same spirit of intolerance, 
would have allowed the dissemination of free opinion in 
so large and prominent a colony. It was not till some 
years after, when a convulsion had shaken the institutions 
of England to their foundation, and the public mind was 
too intent on the fearful crisis at home to regard the 
affairs of distant provinces, that a free charter was ob- 
tained for the then obscure plantations in Khode Island. 
Again, the Puritans looked on every departure from the 
established creed as being, what in fact it was, an in- 
fringement of the civil code ; for in their constitution 
government was merely secondary, and the church was 
the primary function. Hence they regarded every dissent 



46 HISTOEY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, from their religious polity as revolutionary, as subversive 

^; of social order, and treated it as a crime. We, therefore, 

1 6 3 G. find them summoning Roger Williams before their highest 
tribunal, to answer for the crime of holding to certain 
opinions of a purely religious nature ; and with these views 
we are not inclined to wonder so much at their expulsion 
of Williams, as to condemn their subsequent conduct to- 
wards him and his colony, and their horrible treatment of 
the Quakers and Gortonists, which form the darkest chap- 
ters in Puritan history. 

It is pleasing to find in the personal kindness of many 
eminent men towards Eoger Wilhams at this time, a strong- 
contrast to the severity of the magistrates and elders. 
The mild and amiable Winthrop, who was the ablest as 
well as tlie most liberal man of his age and place, ajDpears 
to have regarded Williams with great affection and respect. 
He had ceased to direct the public councils some montlis 
before Williams' ordination at Salem, and the bigoted 
Dudley had succeeded to the chief magistracy as the leader 
of the most restrictive i)arty in Massachusetts. The pe]- 
secution of Williams is to be attributed to a policy of 
which Dudley and his successor Haynes were the expo- 
nents. The latter, who was governor when Williams was 
banished, openly censured Winthrop for the mildness of 
his administration. The faithful friendship of Endicott, 
who afterwards became governor, has been recorded, and 
Williams' letters bear testimony to the Idndness of Gov. 
Winslow and others of the prominent men of Plymouth. 
There was nothing personal in the hostility of his ene- 
mies, the bitterest of whom were among the clergy, who 
sought to establish a political theocracy, and dreaded the 
promulgation of j^i'inciples which they could not compre- 
hend. A yet greater obstacle to their scheme of uniform- 
ity had already appeared among themselves, and after 
distracting for two more years the councils of church and 
state, was destined in like manner to be violently expelled, 



EARLY LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 47 

and to result in the settlement of the island of Khode- chap. 

Island, ^■ 

Roger Williams had scarcely established . himself at 163 6. 
Providence, before the Antinomian controversy burst forth 
in Massachusetts. 



APPENDIX A. 

EARLY LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 

The early career of Roger Williams has been the sub- 
ject of frequent and labored investigation, but, until very 
recently, with little result. Gradually, however, facts 
have been presented which throw some light on his history 
prior to his embarkation for America, Dec. 1, 1630. The 
discovery of the Sadleir letters, a correspondence between 
Roger Williams and Mrs. Anne Sadleir, daughter of Sir 
Edward Coke, has shed light upon the important point 
of his education, and estabhshed the fact of his being 
a protege of Lord Coke. The original MSS. are in the li- 
brary of Trinity College, Cambridge. Hon. George Ban- 
croft, while Minister at the Court of St. James, procured 
copies, and presented them to the R. I. Hist. Society. 
They are also published in Dr. Elton's life of Roger Wil- 
liams, ch, xiii. By these papers, it appears that his illus- 
trious patron, on account of his ability displayed in taking- 
notes of jDroceedings in the Star Chamber, placed him at 
Sutton's Hospital, now the Charter House, the records of 
which institution show that he was elected a scholar, June 
25, 1621. and that he obtained one exhibition, July 9, 
1624. (Elton's Roger Williams, ch. ii.) 

The writer regrets that he cannot adopt tlie other par- 
ticulars relating to the birth-place and university educa- 
tion of AVilliams, contained in this interesting chapter. 
The learned author is undoubtedly correct in assigning 



Al'l 
A. 



48 HISTOEY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

niAP. Wales as the country of Koger Williams. Tlie name is 
eminently Welsh, and abounds even more remarkably in 
Angicsea and the northern counties than at the south. 
Still it is not unlikely that Maestroiddyn was the birth- 
place of our Eoger Williams. The testimony of the aged 
Nestor of Cayo in conclusive of the fact, that a Eoger 
Williams, of sufficient celebrity to be known, at least 
among the natives of his mountain hamlet and the inher- 
itors of his blood, by the epithet " the great," was born 
there. But two points of difficulty occur in identifying 
him with the founder of R . I. and the graduate of Oxford. 
The records of Jesus College, cited by Dr. Elton, give the 
name as " Rodericus" in the Latin style of the University, 
which wx submit should be " Eogerus " to meet this case. 
Or, admitting that the two names were used inter- 
changeably, which is barely probable, we are met with 
a fact which has added greatly to the perj)lexity and la- 
bor of this research, that there were two other persons of 
the same name, filling somewhat conspicuous positions at 
about the same time. One of these was a distinguished 
soldier in the wars of Holland, and either of them would 
seem as likely as the founder of R. I. to be the " Roder- 
icus" of Conwyl Cayo. But, Roderick and Roger are 
distinct names, and it seems an unnecessary violence to 
assimilate them, when a more natural, and in other re- 
spects also, a more obvious explanation of the difficulty 
may be found. Mr. Collen, the obliging Portculhs of the 
Herald's College, London, has made the genealogy of the 
founder of R. I. the suljject of diligent research in the 
archives of that institution, at the instance of a wealthy 
family in Paris, who are lineal descendants of Roger Wil- 
liams. At his suggestion, the writer, assisted by Mr. 
Romilly, the venerable registrar of the University, exam- 
ined the records of Cambridge, the alma mater of Lord 
Coke, and where, from the connection between them, the 
probabiUty is that Wilhams would complete his education 



EARLY LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 49 

in preference to Oxford. In the admission book of Pem- 
broke College is an entry " Williams, 29 Jan., 

1623." For the better understanding of these facts it 
may be stated that the students in the English Universi- 
ties are classed in three grades, according to their social 
position. At Cambridge the first are called Fellow Com- 
moners. This grade is composed of the nobility and the 
wealthy. The second are called Pensioners, from their 
boarding at the College, and this is the most numerous 
grade. The third, called Sizars, consists of the indigent 
students. When a student enters the . University, his 
name is enrolled on the admission book of the particular 
College he joins, and is often very loosely entered, as in 
this case — no Christian name or particulars being given. 
The matriculation, which occurs ofter an interval of sev- 
eral months, and often, as in this case, of a year or two, 
is the registering the name on the books of the Univer- 
sity. This is done by the registrar, with the student's 
name in full, the date, and a list of degrees taken, each 
in its appropriate column. By this book it appears that 
Roger Williams was matriculated a pensioner of Pem- 
broke College, July 7, 1625, and took the degree of Bach- 
elor of Arts in Jan., 1626-7. He took no other degree. 
A more decisive evidence, in its bearing upon the j)resent 
discussion, is contained in what is called the " subscrip- 
tion book." This was introduced in 1613 by James I., 
who required every student to subscribe to the thirty-nine 
articles. In the first volume of this book, under date of 
1626, the time he took his degree, is the autograph signa- 
ture of EoGERus Williams. A copy of this signature, 
carefully compared with the known autograph of the 
founder of Rhode Island, leaves little doubt of their iden- 
tity of origin. 

Again, the testimony of Williams in one of his let- 
ters dated July, 1679 (Backus, Hist, of the Baptists, i. 
421), that he was then " near to fourscore years of age," 



50 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, is strongly corroborative of the received opinion tliat he 
- — . — was born in 1599, and not seven years later, as was Rod- 

APP 

A. " ericus Williams, the Oxonian. In that case he would 
have been only in his 73d year when writing the letter, 
and would hardly have described liimself as " near 80." 
For these reasons the writer is reluctantly compelled to 
dissent from the conclusions of his early instructor and 
friend, the learned Doctor Elton, on the point of the 
University education of Eoger Williams, and hence like- 
wise as to his being identical with the Roderic Wilhams 
of Conwyl Cayo. 

The difficulty of this research in England, occasioned 
by there being three persons of the same name there, is 
further continued in this country by the presence of two 
Roger Williams's at the same time in New England, 
which has led the accurate Prince, and all subsequent 
writers, into error with regard to the admission of tlie 
Roger Williams as a freeman of Massachusetts, until the 
mistake was corrected by the diligence of Mr. Savage, 
the editor of Winthrop's Journal, and late President of 
the Massachusetts Historical Society, than whom no more 
thorough or more liberal historian ever lived. In the 
Massachusetts Colonial Records, i. 79, is a list of " the 
names of such as desire to be made freemen," among 
whom is Roger Williams. This is under date of October 
19th, 1G30, nearly four months before the founder of 
Rhode Island arrived. Most of these, including Roger 
Williams, with many others, took the freemen's oath at 
the next General Court, 18th May, 1G31, at which time 
our Roger Wilhams had been three months in the coun- 
try, but never applied for admission. The freeman was a 
resident of Dorchester at that time, and aftorwai'ds re- 
moved to Connecticut. 



THE ANTINOMIAN CONTROVERSY. 51 



CHAPTER II. 

THE ANTINOMIAN CONTROVERSY. 

1636— ir,38. 

While the colonists were legislating for tlie preserva- chap 
tion of sound morals, by enacting sumptuary and other 



laws to regulate their domestic economy, there arrived a 
large accession of emigrants with news confirming the re- 
ports of the contemplated encroachments upon their liber- 
ties by the English hierarchy, which led to the adoption 
of prompt measures, on the part of the General Court, to 
place the country in a posture of defence. Among these 
new comers was one who was destined to cause greater 
disturbance to the Puritan settlements than any that they 
were to receive from the prevalence of " immodest fashions " 
at home, or from the designs of ambitious prelates abroad. 
A woman of great intellectual endowments and of mascu- 
line energy, to whom even her enemies ascribed unusual 
mental powers, styling her " the master-piece of woman's 
wit,"^ and describing her as " a gentlewoman of an 
haughty carriage, busy spirit, competent wit, and a volu- 
ble tongue," ^ who by a remarkable union of charity, de- 
votion and abilitj'', soon became the leader, not only of her 
own sex, but of a powerful party in the state and church, 
so that her opponents have termed her, by a siDCcies of ana- 

' Johnson. Wonder-working Providence, B. i, ch. 42. 
'' Magnalia, B. vii. ch. 3 § 7, 8. 



10 34 

Sept. 



52 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, gramma tic wit," The Nonsuch," was Mrs. Ann Hutchinson, 
_i^ the founder and champion of the Antinomian " heresy." 
1 G 3 4. Acting upon the principle that " the elder women were 
to teach the younger," ^ she established a weekly meeting 
at her own house, where she promulgated her views in the 
form of comments upon the sermons of Mr. Cotton. These 
meetings soon became largely attended, and to them was 
traced directly the origin of many opinions which were de- 
nounced by the authorities as heretical and seditious. 

We have seen that the Puritans had already chang'ed 
their position in becoming the founders of a State, and 
were disjiosed to mete out to all dissenters the same meas- 
ure of 2)ersecution which had led to their own emigration. 
The system that they had established was one of rigid for- 
malism, exacting a great regard to externals, and enforcing 
strict conformity in matters of abstract belief This was 
a position in accordance with the spirit of the existing 
age, but contrary to that which was about to commence, of 
wliich the premonitions had already apx^earcd in Massa- 
chusetts as well as in England. The new comers, who 
formed a large proportion of the inhabitants of Boston, had 
little sympathy with the established order of the state, 
and were prompt to embrace the novel tenets that were 
started at variance with the prevailing creed. These opin- 
ions related primarily to the doctrine of free grace, or jus- 
tification by faith alone, which was stoutly asserted by 
Mrs. Hutchinson, and maintained by her brother-in-law. 
Wheelwright, minister at Braintree, who had recently 
arrived. Although this cardinal article of the Reformation 
was equally upheld l)y the Puritans, they did not overlook 
the external evidence of sanctification, or forget the 
apostles' injunction that " faith without works is dead." 
Mrs. Hutchinson artfully contrived, by giving undue pro- 
minence to the scriptural idea of free grace, to make it 

' Titu.s ch. 2, vs. 3-5. 



PREVALENCE OF THE NEW VIEWS. Do 

appear that her opponents denied the sovereign efficacy of chap. 
faith, and grounded their hopes of salvation upon their .__,,;^ 
good works, and she denounced them as being " under a l C8''- 
covenant of . works," while she claimed for herself to be 
living " under a covenant of grace." The starting point 
of disagreement between the two parties related to the 
evidence of justification. The followers of Mrs. Hutchin- 
son contended for an inward light as the only sure wit- 
ness of divine grace, and without which no degree of mo- 
ral rectitude could give assurance of a saving faith, while 
the legalists held that obedience to the moral law, being 
an evidence of sanctification, was thus far a proof of our ac- 
ceiDtance with Christ. So long as the difference was con- 
fined to this, it made no disturbance. The new views 
were embraced by a majority of the Boston church, includ- 
ing Mr. Cotton himself, and were warmly espoused by the 
governor, afterwards Sir Henry Vane. The prime doc- 
trines of the Beformation, justification by faith, and the 
right of private judgment, were too nearly allied to 
these views to admit of their being disputed. The- 
message sent to England by Cotton, who favored the 
new opinions, and by Wilson, who opposed them, con- 
tains the substance of the controversy up to this point : 
" That all the strife here was about magnifying the 
grace of God ; the one person seeking to advance the 
grace of God witliin us as to sanctification, and another 
person seeking to advance the grace of God toward us as 
to justification," to which Mr. Wilson added, " That he 
knew none who did not seek to advance the grace of God 
in both."' Soon however the breach widened. The Hut- 
chinson party, who claimed, theologically speaking, to be 
living " under a covenant of grace," not only denied the 
intrinsic efficacy of good works for the salvation of man^ 
but carried this scriptural doctrine so far as to pervert 
its obvious meaning, by rejecting all external proofs of a 

^ Magnalia, B. vii., c. 3, § 1. 



54 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, cliange of heart, as being indications that the convert was 

,^^1^ living under a " covenant of works." 

1 G 3 6. The idea of inward revelation was no novelty in the 

history of theology. It is one which in all time has been 
effectively employed by the zealot or the impostor for the 
accomplishment of purj^oses requiring the incitement of 
religious fervor. It appeals to the imagination of men, and 
in this case, it thoroughly aroused the latent enthusiasm 
of the Puritans. The " opinionists," as they were at first 
called, soon received another name, and from the disregard 
of the divine law, both as an evidence and a means of 
grace, with which they were charged by their opponents, 
were termed Antinomians, The controversy increased un- 
til it reached an alarming height, interfering with the effi- 
cient prosecution of the Pequot war, dividing families, and 
threatening a dissolution of society. The more enthusias- 
tic jDeople, a large proportion of the new comers, among 
whom was the governor, and those who cherished a secret 
feeling of dislike at the preponderating influence of the 
clergy in secular affairs, espoused the Antinomian cause, 
while those who were attached to the old order of things 
in church and state, with all the ministers except Wheel- 
wright and Cotton, formed the party of the legahsts. With 
these poj)ular elements on one side, based upon a free system 
of theological enquiry, and conducted by ardent and ta- 
lented leaders, it was a natural result that new and often 
startling opinions were promulgated, and the whole com- 
munity involved in a giddy maze of abstruse speculation. 
Questions pertaining to '• our personal union with the 
' Spirit of God," " the insignificancy of sanctification to be 
any evidence of our good estate," " the setting up of imme- 
diate revelation al)out future events, to be believed as 
equally infallible with the Scriptures," with similar recon- 
dite or fanciful themes, were everywhere discussed with 
more than scholastic zeal, and with " the exquisite rancor 
of theolofifical hatred." 



Oct. 



COMMENCEMENT OF THE DIFFICULTY. 55 

The first evidence that public attention was directed to chat. 
the new opinions appeared in a visit made by the other min- ^^' 
isters of the Bay, while the General Court was in session at 1 '• •"> c. 
Boston, to ascertain the truth of the rumors, intending, if 
need were, to write to the Boston church, warning them of 
the dangers of heresy. Cotton and Wheelwright both at- 
tended at this conference and satisfied them all, that on the 
point of sanctification as an evidence of justification, there 
was no difference of opinion, while on the question of the 
indwelling of the person of the Holy Ghost there appeared 
no material disagreement, many of the clergy holding to 
that doctrine in a limited degree, but not to a personal 
union of the believer with the Holy Spirit, which was the 
tenet of Mrs. Hutchinson. Some of her followers, who 
were members of the Boston church now sought to have 
Mr. Wheelwright appointed over it as one of the teachers. 
This was opposed by Ex-Governor Winthrop on the oy 
ground that the church was already furnished with able 
ministers, and that Wheelwright was known to advocate 
certain doctrines at variance with the received opinions, as 
" that a believer was more than a creature," and " that 
the person of the Holy Ghost and a believer were united."' 
A discussion ensued, in which Deputy Governor Winthrop, 
Cotton, Wheelwright, and Governor Vane, took part, re- 
sulting in the success of the former, so that the church gave 
way that Mr. Wheelright might be called to a new church 
about to be established at Braintree. The defeated mem- 
bers felt aggrieved at this attack upon their candidate, 31. 
whereupon the next day Winthrop apologized for his 
offence, stating that Wheelwright had since denied holding 
the opinions charged against him ; and then, not satisfied 
with this recantation, most unwisely proceeded to argue 
from the doctrines which Wheelwright admitted, that he 
must necessarily hold to these objectionable dogmas also. 
It was a question of metaphysical distinction too nice to 
be debated in a mixed assembly, and it would have been 

' Winthrop 1, 202. 



56 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, well had Wiiitlirop been satisfied with the explana- 
______ tions of his Christian brother. A similar instance of the 

1 •'' -^ "• dangerons display of logical acumen liad occurred a year 
before at the trial of Koger Williams where the dialec- 
tics of Hooker convinced the court that Williams did 
maintain opinions which he expressly denied. The habit 
of deducing from the premises of enthusiastic theologians 
conclusions not admitted by themselves, and then charg- 
ing upon them not only errors of doctrine, but of con- 
duct as the legitimate result of these conclusions, w^as 
one to which the Puritans were addicted, that caused 
them infinite trouble, and was the occasion of great injus- 
tice to the dissenting parties. In the discussion concern- 
ing the settlement of Wheelwright, the first public exposi- 
tion of the new opinions was made. Heretofore they had 
been confined to Mrs. Hutchinson's private assembly, or 
made the subject of anxious deliberation by the ministers 
alone. The rupture resulting from Winthrop's impru- 
dence on this occasion, revealed how deeply the heterodox 
notions had taken root. Cotton and Vane, with many 
others, had adojjted them, while Wilson and Winthrop 
resisted the heretical novelties. A disputation concern- 
ing the nature of the Holy Ghost was held in writing, 
that the peace of the church need not be disturbed there- 
by. The prudent conclusion was agreed to, that as nei- 
ther the Scriptures nor the primitive Fathers made men- 
tion of the "person" of the Holy Ghost, that term 
should not be used. 

At this juncture, an unfortunate incident occurred to 
give a political aspect to existing difierenccs, and added 
the bitterness of partisan feeling to the asperity of religious 
controversy. Governor Vane convened the Court of Depu- 
ties to tender his resignation, alleging, in the first place, 
that his private aftairs required his immediate return to 
England, and then assigning as his reasim, the prevalent 
dissensions, which lie said were, by some, falsely attributed 



Doc. 



VACILLATING CONDUCT OF VANE. 57 

to him. The court silently consented to his departure, and chap. 
decreed a new election. In the interval, some members of _^_ 
the church represented to the court that the governor's 10 3 6. 
reasons were not conclusive ; whereupon Vane, acting upon 
this demonstration " as an obedient child to the church," 
declared that " without leave of the church he durst not 
go away " although the court had assented. The result 
was that a great portion of the people declared in favor 
of his continuance in office, and the Court of Election was 
adjourned to meet at its usual time, the following May. 
The vacillating conduct of Vane in this aifair lias greatly 
prejudiced his reputation. He has been freely charged 
with dissimulation in attempting to extort an expression 
of popular opinion in his favor, by a course more becom- 
ing a demagogue than a Christian statesman. The sequel 
gives the color of plausibility to this severe condemnation. 
Happy had it been for Vane and for the country if he had 
embraced the opportunity, given at his own solicitation by 
the court, to withdraw from New England. His career 
in Massachusetts had thus far been unique and brilliant. 
No other man had ever received such honors at her hands, 
or been more warmly admired by the people. Six months 
after his arrival at Boston he was chosen governor, when ]\[.|y 
only twenty-four years of age. His high connections and -•'^• 
popular qualities, notwithstanding his extreme youth, and 
inexperience in public affairs, combined to place him at 
once at the head of the State — an injudicious choice, as it 
proved in a few brief months. 

At this court an attempt was made to reconcile the Dec. 
differences in the churches, and the ministers were con- 
voked to give their advice. The governor took a promi- 
nent part, and by some unseasonable remarks drew upon 
himself a rebuke from the fiery Hugh Peter, who openly 
charged him with destroying the peace of the churches. 
The session assumed a polemic character, and closed with 
a debate upon the nature of sanctification. The peace of 



58 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

tlie cliiirchcs, as might have been foreseen, was more dis- 
turhed than promoted by this attempt at judicial inter- 
ference. A speech made at this court by Mr. Wilson, 
pastor of the Boston church,^ gave offence to some of the 
members, who demanded a public explanation. To this 
Wilson acceded, and the opportunity w^as embraced by the 
Governor, and others of his congregation, to assail him witli 
bitter reproaches. The excited laity were only restrained 
from passing a direct censure upon their pastor, by the 
firmness of Cotton, who, in lieu of it, " gave him a grave 
exhortation." The people seemed beside themselves with 
indignation during this earnest dispute upon nice points 
of polemic theology, which, probably, very few of them 
could understand.^ The effect of these public discussions 
was to spread the Antinomian doctrines. Those heretofore 
enumerated were now avowed by nearly the whole Boston 
church, while still wider departures from the orthodox creed 
were secretly entertained, and awaited only the stimulus 
of opposition to l)e openly declared. The defection of Cot- 

' Tbc organization of the Puritan chnrclies difFerc'l from tUose of the 
present day. Beside the pastor, tliere were ruling elders and teaching elders, 
the latter of whose duties did not vary materially from those of the pastor, 
while the rulhig elders seem to have had et^nal jurisdiction with him in the 
government of the church. Wils^on was the pastor, Cotton a teacher of the 
Boston church, beside whom were other teachers at various times, the num- 
ber of these seeming to be decided by the size of the church. Beside these 
two classes of elders, tliere were deacons also, who assisted the elders. Our 
modern deacons approach to the character of ruling elders, while assistant 
pastors, as in some large churches now, occupy somewhat the position of the 
teaching elders. There were two ruling elders of the Boston chui-ch at this 
time, Oliver and Leverett, both Antinomian in their feelings, as indeed were 
the entire church a little latei", excepting Wilson, the pastor, Winthrop, and 
some two or three others. — 1 Win. 212. 

- The hair-splitting distinctions, enunciated with all the energy of an oni- 
ele, by the disputants on either side of this controversy, remind one of tlu; 
Scotchman's definition of metaphysics — " When twa persons be talkin' t'gither, 
an' t'aue dinna understan' t'ither, an' t'ither dinna understau' hi'self," while 
the \'aolence with which the factions supported their respective leaders, illus- 
trates the intensity of what an eminent writer has termed " the exquisite 
rancor of theological hatred." 



PROCEEDINGS AGAINST WILSON AND WHEELWRIGHT. 59 

ton was a sore trial to tlie clergy, wlio drafted a list of six- chap. 
teen points of supposed disagreement, upon whicli they >,^,J_ 
desired liis opinion. His answers were published, and also 1 G 3 7. 
the ministers' reply to them. The dissensions at home, 
together with the distractions and disasters occurring at 
this period throughout the Christian world, were the occa- 
sion of a general fast in Massachusetts. The unhappy j^^^^ 
dispute now assumed a more general character, extending 20. 
beyond the limits of Boston, and disturbing the quiet of 
other churches. The baleful distinction of men under " a 
covenant of works," or under a "covenant of grace," divided 

the whole community. It was at this crisis that the mes- .,, , 

Fel). 
sage, before recited, was sent to England by Cotton and ;3. 

Wilson, whicli, however truly it might describe the con- 
troversy in its earlier stages, gave no idea of the party 
virulence that had since prevailed. 

The ensuing session of the General Court presented , ^ . _j^ 
more the character of an ecclesiastical council than of a 9. 
legislative or judicial body. The majority were legalists. 
The proceedings against Wilson, arising out of his speech 
at the preceding court, were investigated, but as it was 
impossible to identify those who had jirejudlced him, no 
action was taken, except to pass a vote appro^ing of the 
speech. The clergy were consulted as to the authority 
of the court over the churches, and gave the opinion that 
the court might proceed indej^endently in cases of heresy 
dangerous to the State. This advice they immediately 
followed, by summoning Wheelwright to answer for a ser- 
mon preached by him on the recent fast day, wherein as 
they alleged, he had fanned the flame of dissension, instead 
of quenching it, thus perverting the object of the fast, and 
adding contempt of court to the crime of seditious prcacli- 
ing. The sermon was produced by his accusers, and 
defended by its author. After much debate Wheelwright 
was pronounced guilty of sedition and contempt, but sen- 
tence was deferred until the next court. The governor and 



60 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, some of his party j^rotested against tlie judgment, but with- 
^^' out eifect. The Boston church petitioned in his behalf and 

16 3 7. justified his sermon. This act was declared to he pre- 
sumptuous ; the petition was pronounced to be " a seditious 
libel," and was indignantly rejected. It subsequently fur- 
nished the pretence for unwarrantable severity. So great 
was the excitement, that it was decided to hold the next 
session of the court at Newtown,' a motion which itself 
produced a violent struggle between the two parties. The 
dispute had now become so warm that the leaders of the 
f>^ Boston church, Wilson of course excepted, even refused to 
sanction l)y their presence the ordination of ministers of the 
opposing faction. 

Such was the temper of the people when the Court of 
Elections was held at Newtown. Party tactics were applied 
^\]}7 to defer the election as long as possible. It was the last 
struggle of political power on the part of Vane and his 
friends. The zeal of Wilson, who climbed a tree to ha- 
rangue the assembled multitude, decided the fortunes ot 
the day. The people clamored loudly for immediate elec- 
tion, and the governor was overborne by the tumult. 
Fierce denunciations on cither side had already given place 
to acts of violence, when this timely exertion of the Boston 
pastor no doubt prevented actual bloodshed. The legalists 
triumphed at every point. Winthrop, who for the past year 
had been only deputy governor, was restored to his for- 
mer office of governor, and Vane, with his assistants, Cod- 
dington and Dummer, were no longer magistrates. Boston 
had deferred the election of deputies until the result of the 
general election was known. The next day Vane and Cod- 
dington, with another of the same party, were returned as 
deputies from Boston. The court refused to receive them 
19. on the plea of informality, but on the following day, the 
same deputies were again chosen, and the court was com- 
pelled to admit them. Wheelwright appeared to receive 

' Now Carabrklo-e. 



IMPOLITIC COURSE OF THE ANTINOMIANS. 61 

his sentence, but was again respited, the triumphant party chav. 
wishing to give an example of leniency by thus affording ^^,^1^ 
him further time for retraction. The prisoner remained 1037 
firm, inviting sentence of death, but threatening an appeal 
to the king in case the court should proceed. This con- 
duct was fatal to the Antinomian cause. Thus far, the 
popular feehng, especially in Boston, had been with the 
liberal party, in opposition to the clergy, and to the old 
order of magistrates. The threat of appeal changed the 
pohtical aspect of the case, and created a revulsion of pub- 
lic feeling. Tlie new comers, equally with the old set- 
tlers, dreaded the interference of England, where the pre- 
latical party was now in the ascendant. This feeling was 
more potent than any domestic difference. The right of 
appeal admitted the English claim to regulate the inter- 
nal affairs of the province, so that the question now ap- 
peared like one of independence against subjection, in 
which the legalists supported the popular side. This 
event hastened the downfall of their opponents, and stimu- 
lated the dominant party to those acts of injustice which 
were now to be consummated. An order of court was 
passed, imposing a penalty upon all persons who should 
harbor any emigrant for more than three weeks without 
leave of the magistrates. This combination of an alien 
law with a passport system was aimed directly at the 
Antinomians, who were expecting accessions from Eng- 
land, and occasioned a great outcry. Social visiting Avas 
interrupted, and personal insults were of frequent occur- July. 
rence. The arrival of a brother of Mrs. Hutchinson, with 
others of the same party, afforded opportunity for a prac- 
tical application of the new law, and thus increased the 
rancor of faction. 

A pamphlet controversy, respecting Wheelwright's ob- Aug. 
noxious sermon, occupied both parties until the all-en- ^^' 
grossing synod assembled at Newtown, vvhich was to heal 
every difference, and to settle the creed, of New England. 



00 



Oct. 



62 niSTOEY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP. A list of eighty-two "erroneous opinions" and nine "un- 
^^" savory speeches," supposed to embrace the whole cata- 

16 3 7. logue of prevalent heresies, was presented and condemned.^ 
Only five points of difference remained between Cotton and 
Wheelwright on one side, and the rest of the ministers on 
the other,- An earnest and j)rotracted effort at reconcili- 
ation upon these metaphysical niceties, at length, through 
the medium of ambiguous expressions, wrought the de- 
sired end in the case of Cotton, who, with more perhaps 
of prudence than good faith, " explained, distinguished, 
and prepared to yield." ^ Wheelwright maintained his 
ground, and calmly awaited the penalty of contumacy. 

g(, ^ The synod, after twenty-four days' labor, dissolved, with 
the gratifying result that Cotton, heretoibre the great 
leader and theological dictator of the Puritans, after 
having suffered a temporary eclipse, " recovered all his 
12. former sjdendor among the other stars." ^ A day of 
thanlvsgiving was appointed for the success of the synod, 
and for the recent defeat of the Pequots. A little later 
it was discovered that, in respect to the former, the result 
had not been decisive. Although the pliant Cotton had 

' These are duly set forth in T. Welde's pamphlet entitled " A short story 
of the Rise, Reign and Ruin of the Antinomians, Familists and Libertines 
that infested the Churches of New England,'' a very scarce and curious spe- 
cimen of our early polemic literature. The copy which I have read is the 
London edition, 1644. It contains, besides an elaborate preface, 66 quarto 
pages, 20 of which contain the catalogue of errors, with their confutation, 
by the synod ; 24 embrace the proceedings of the General Court of Nov. 2d, 
(erroneously printed Oct. 2d in the book,) 1637, which punished the Antino- 
mian leaders, and the remainder are occupied with the trial of Wheelwright in 
the jweceding March, with an account of Mrs. Hutchinson's excommunica- 
tion. The whole is a bitter aud bigoted ex parte statement by an actor in the 
scenes described, and will only repay a reading by the antiquary or the cu- 
rious theologian. A remarkable instance of "bibliographical disingenuity " 
in relation to this book is exposud by Mr. Savag.-' in a lengthy note in 1 Win- 
throp, 298-300. 

^ They are enumerated in 1 Winthrop, 285. 

^ The expression is Hildreth's. Hist, of U. S., i. 247. 

^ Magnalia, B. vii. c. 3, § r>. 



TRIAL OF THE LEADERS. 63 

deserted to the stronger party, Wheelwriglit and his friends chap. 

were none the less active in disseminating their views. _J^ 

At the next General Conrt a summary course was 10 3 7. 
adopted, based upon the petition or remonstrance that 2 
the Boston church had presented, the preceding March, 
in hehalf of Wheelwright, and which had then been 
branded as a "seditious libel" upon the court.' Wm. 
Aspinwall and John Coggeshall, both deacons of Boston 
church, and deputies from that town, were dismissed from 
the court ; the one for having signed, and the other for * 
defending the remonstrance. One of the two deputies 
elected to fill the vacancies thus created, was immedi- 
ately dismissed for the same cause, and the town properly 
refused to elect another in his place. William Codding- 
ton, the third deputy from Boston, acting under instruc- 
tions, then moved a reversal of the censure against 
Wheelwright, and a repeal of the alien law. This demon- 
stration of the firmness of Wheelwright's friends caused 
the court to summon him the same day to receive sen- 
tence, which, since his conviction in March, had been 
from time to time deferred. He was sentenced to banish- 
ment, and required to leave the jurisdiction within fourteen 
days, upon penalty of imjirisonment. John Coggeshall, 
who a few days before had been expelled from his seat, 
was then summoned, and narrowly escaped the same 
punishment, but was released upon being disfranchised, 
and admonished to keep the peace on pain of banish- 
ment.'^ AVilliam Aspinwall was next called to trial for 
the same offence, and sentenced to be disfranchised and 

^ This petition is preserved in Welde's " Rise, Reign and Ruin," p. 23-25, 
and is copied by Mr. Savage in 1 Wiuthrop, App. E., where the reader will 
find it diificuH to detect sedition or presumption in its earnest but respectful 
language. It was drawn up by Wm. Aspinwall, afterwards the first Secre- 
tary of R. I. Colony, and signed by about sixty of the principal men in Bos- 
ton, some of whom, banished at this court, soon after settled the island of 
Rhode Island. 

- He was soon after exiled, and became the first President of R. I. Colony. 



G4 HISTORY OF THE .STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, banished, but was allowed to remain until sjuing. Several 
______ other signers of the petition and chiefs of the Antinomian 

10 3 7. party, were in turn brought before the court, and pun- 
15/ ished by disfranchisement and fines, among whom were 
Wilham Balstone ' and Captain Underliill, who thus re- 
ceived the reward of his distinguished services in the Pe- 
quot war. The male leaders being thus summarily disposed 
of, the author of all this commotion, Mrs. Hutchinson 
herself, was brought into court. Her trial occupied two 
• days. It was opened in the form of questions between 
the court and the accused, the object of which was to 
deduce from her own admissions the evidence of her guilt. 
Even the report given by Welde, one of her prosecutors 
and judges, leaves her, at the end of the first day, un- 
scathed by the dialectics of the court. The next morn- 
ing, hoAvever, she undertook a defence in a lengthy speech, 
wherein she broached the doctrine of inward revelations, 
enforcing her views by scriptural quotations, and claiming 
in a manner to be herself inspired ; in evidence of which, 
she enumerated sundry revelations that she had received, 
and among them that she should go to New England and 
be persecuted, of which revelation she asserted her present 
trial to be a fidfilment. " The court saw now an inevi- 
table necessity to rid her away ; " - sentence of banisliment 
was pronounced, and she was handed over to the marshal 
to await its execution. 

A most remarkable act, unparalleled in the subse- 
quent history of the American States, concluded the pro- 
^_^^^ ceedings of this memorable court. The principal men 
19. of the proscribed party in all the towns were ordered to 
deliver up their arms and ammunition before the SOtli 
of the month, unless they would " acknowledge their sin 
in subscril)ing the seditious libell," before two magistrates.-^' 

' He was one of the four assistants ciiosen in IGll iu the island of R. I. 
'^ Welde, p. 41. For this and all the foregoing cases tried at the Nov. 
court, 1637, see Welde's Rise, Reign and Ruin, pp. 2;]-12. 
= Winthrop, i. 29G, note. 



BANISHMENT OF MRS. HUTCHINSON. 65 



CHAP 
11. 



1 G :V 



Seventy-five names are enumerated as the objects of this 
astonishing order, which, naturally enough, as tlie finale to 
so much tyranny, aroused a strong feeling of indignation. 
The governor took an early occasion to justify the conduct 
of the court to the excited congregation with whom he 
was a worshipper. 

The secular arm having been so efficiently exercised to 
purge the state, the ecclesiastical authority was next ex- 
erted to purify the church. Many of the signers of the no- 
torious petition were jn-oceeded with "in a church way " 
by admonition, and when this failed to convince them of 
their sin, excommunication was pronounced against them. 
The more serious errors before alluded to, as being secretly i g 3 8. 
entertained by the followers of Mrs. Hutchinson, were now 
openly avowed, and gave occasion for earnest consulta- 
tions between the magistrates and elders. A few of the 
most intelligible of these notions were : '• That the law 
is no rule of life to a Christian," that " union to Christ is 
not by faith," that "there is no 'such thing as inherent 
righteousness," that " the Sabbath is but as other days," 
that " there is no resurrection of the body," and many 
other dogmas, which, however harmless they might appear 
when exiilained by their propounders, were fraught with 
danger when adopted in their literal significance by the 
multitude, unskilled in ethical subtleties.' Mrs. Hutch- ii^£.^,.p|^ 
inson was examined before the church upon these latter 15. 
charges, and gravely admonished by the teacher. Cotton. 
A vain hope was felt that she might recant, for which 
end she was permitted to reside for a few days at Cotton's 
house ; but when the examination was renewed her ob- .^^ 
duracy was manifest, and " the church with one consent 
cast her out." The virus of Antinomianism had become 

' A list of twenty-uine theses, from which the above five examples are se- 
lected, was presented at the examination of Mrs. Hutchinson before the 
church, 15 March, 1G38, all of which she defended. They may be found in 
Welde's book, pp. 59-61. 

VOL. I — 5 



QQ HISTORY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND. 

neutralized by its own excess. A warrant to execute the 
sentence of banisliment was immediately issued, and the 
16 3 8. arch heretic departed into exile, to meet ere long a dread- 
ful death.' Wheelwright with his family removed to the 
head waters of the Piscataqua, where he commenced the 
settlement of Exeter.- The larger i)ortion of the exiles, 
among wdiom was the husband of Mrs. Hutchinson, had 
already gone forth to seek a refuge in the wilderness. 

Thus ended the Antinomidn controversy in Massachu- 
setts — the most bitter strife that has ever agitated New 
England, adding the severity of political conflict to the 
fierceness of doctrinal contention. Now that two centu- 
ries have passed away, and the names of Legalist and An- 
timonian are known only to the student of history, we 
may calmly review the causes and trace the results of this 
stormy episode in Puritan annals. 

The different phases presented in the progress of the 
dispute are accounted for by the changing elements which 
at various periods it involved. Originally it was purely 
of a theological character. Matters of abstract belief, 
upon which all were agreed in their practical ajjplication, 
were discussed in their metaphysical bearing. Terms not 
used in the Scriptures were employed to express shades 
of thought in relation to the sublimest mysteries of the 
inspired volume. The specific purpose for which this 
" barbarous terminology " was first applied, was soon over- 
looked, and the fact that such expressions were merety "of 
human invention" was forgotten in the heat of discussion. 
Thus they came to assume a reality in the minds of the dis- 

' Her subsequent history is soon told. She went first to Providence, and 
thence to Aquedneck, which had just been purchased by the fugitives of her 
party, and where her husband died in 1G42. Soon after this bereavement she 
removed with her family' to a spot near Hurl Gate, within the Dutcli jurisdiction, 
where in a short time she, and, with the exception of one child, all her Iiouse- 
hold, sixteen in number, were miu'dered by the Indians in 1643 — a tragedy 
which the bigoted Welde narrates, as a special providence upon this " Ameri- 
can Jezebel." 

" Belknap's New Hampshire, i. 37. 



THEOLOGICAL ASPECT OF ANTINOMIANISM. 67 

putants, and gave to the argument a material instead of chap. 
an abstract significance. The peoj)le who listened re- ^^' 
ceived the subtile theses of the debaters as the words of 16 3 8. 
an oracle, w^iile fanaticism readily embraced the doctrine 
of inward revelation, which was first cautiously insinuated 
and then boldly announced. The spread of dangerous 
heresies was stimulated by the rigid discijiline of the 
Puritan churches. The desire for uniformity in creed 
and ceremonial produced a stringency of regulation that 
precluded, even in non-essentials, that latitude which a 
sound discretion would allow. This strictness, however 
congenial to those who ordained it, was offensive to subse- 
quent settlers, whose feelings were thus enlisted, from the 
moment of their arrival, in any movement that promised 
relaxation. Furthermore, the principles of the Reforma- 
tion, with which the new-comers were strongly imbued, 
but which had lost some portion of their hold upon the 
Puritan mind, when the possession of jjower had diverted 
their application, favored a degree of liberality and toler- 
ance distasteful to the rulers of Massachusetts. The right 
of private judgment was merged in the authority of cor- 
porate decrees. The doctrine of justification by faith 
alone, which in the hands of Luther and Calvin, had 
shivered the gorgeous ritual of Rome, seemed, to the 
Antinomians, to be lost in the scrupulous attention paid 
to formal and protracted worship. On the other hand, 
'• Calvinism run to seed " was an expression used by the 
Legalists to describe the position of their opponents. The 
antagonist elements of human character were here de- 
veloped on the arena of religious strife. In its theologi- 
cal aspect, the Antinomian controversy was the system of 
Geneva, logically pursued, in conflict with the practice oi" 
Massachusetts — a struggle for freedom of thought and ac- 
tion against the spirit of formalism. 

Politically considered, it presents a phenomenon not 
unusual in the history of the world, but singular enough in 



68 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP. ^ community so entirely controlled, tlirongli moral means, 
^^' by the clerical profession. It was a demonstration by the 

16 3 8. masses against spiritual domination — a protest of the peo- 
ple in opposition to the clergy. The colony was still a 
close corporation in which but a small number of residents 
were admitted to the privileges of freemen. The test 
act ^ was now working its legitimate effect in arousing 
a spirit of hostility to existing institutions, which was 
specially directed against those who were supposed to be 
its authors and most strenuous advocates. A sense of in- 
justice was preparing the minds of the peoj^le for overt 
resistance to the supremacy of the clergy. The shrewd 
and cautious Cotton maintained their cause until the re- 
action, caused by the indiscretion of Wheelwright, was 
apparent, and the political leader of the faction was dis- 
graced at the general election. When the powerful influ- 
ence of Vane was thus withdrawn. Cotton made good his 
reconciliation with his offended colleagues, and still ap- 
peared as the devoted servant of the people. Up to this 
period the political phase of the controversy was as dis- 
tinctly marked as its theological character. 

There is one other point, somewhat akin to this, 
which should not be overlooked, as it helps to explain the 
position of j^n^rties in this obstinate strife. Viewed in its 
social aspect, this was a contest between the new-comers 
and the old settlers. Nearly three thousand jiassengers 
arrived the same year with Henry Vane, and only one 
hundred and forty-five freemen were added to the colony.- 
This disparity, together with what has before been writ- 
ten, will account for the feeling which disturbed even the 
proprieties of social life. 

From these various causes the Antinomian party were, 
at one time, far the most numerous in Boston, recriuting 
its ranks from the most accomplished as well as the most 
liberal of her citizens ; while in other towns it was rapidly 

' Passed May 18, 1C31. ^ Holmes's Annals, 2l'9. 



RESULTS OF THE CONTROVERSY. 69 

augmenting its forces, and preparing to imbue the exclu- chap. 
sive spirit of the Puritans with more of liberality in feel- _^_ 
ing and practice. 16 3 8. 

Thus much for the causes of this celebrated dispute. 
Its results upon the Puritans were exhibited in a gradual 
relaxation from the severity of their political system, de- 
manded by the growing jealousy of the people at the 
power of their ministers and magistrates. This was slow 
but certain in its operation, so that the union of church 
and state became much less oppressive in the next gene- 
ration. Its farther results, upon the victims of its fury 
who were driven to establish their principles in an inde- 
pendent colony, soon afterwards united by parliamentary 
patent with the Providence Plantations, the progress of 
this history will develop. 

By Clark's narrative it appears that during the pre- 10 3 7. 
ceding autumn many of the Autinomians, for the sake of 
peace, and to enjoy freedom of conscience, had determined 
to remove. The suffocating heat of the past summer in- 
duced them to seek a place at the north, but the severity 
of the ensuing winter compelled them in the spring to 
move farther south. With John Clark and William 1 637-8. 
Coddington as their leaders, the exiles designed to estab- 
lish themselves on Long Island or near Delaware Bay, 
and while their vessel was doubling Cape Cod they went 
by land to Providence. Narraganset Bay, which seemed 
the destined refuge for outcasts of every faith, attracted 
the wanderers by its fertile shores and genial climate. 
Eoger Williams recommended them to settle at Sowams, 
now called Phebe's Neck, in Barrington, on the main 
land, or on the island of Aquedneck, now Eliode Island. 
He accompanied the exploring party, consisting of Clark 
and two others, to Plymouth, to inquire about Sowams, 
when finding that this was claimed to be within Ply- 
mouth patent, they selected the large and beautiful island 



70 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, of Aqiiedneck.' Upon their return to Providence a num- 

^^^^ Ijer of the principal people formed themselves into a body 

1637-8. politic by voluntary agreement, as the inhabitants of 

V Providence had already done, and chose Wilham Codding- 

ton to be their judge or chief-magistrate. 

Through the powerful influence of Koger Williams, 
who in his account of the affair, modestly divides the 
honor with Sir Henry Vane, negotiations were shortly 
concluded with Canonicus and Miantinomi for the pur- 
chase of the island. As soon as the deed was obtained 



24. 



■ This name is spelled in several ways, a commou thing with all the In- 
dian names, as Aquetnet, Aquiday, Aquetueck, Aquidneck, Acqiiettinck, &c., 
hut the writer preserves the orthogr.iphy used in the original Indian deed of 
the ishmd. He also, to avoid confusion, will apply to the island colony its 
original name down to the time of the second charter, lG6o, when the official 
designation in the first patent, 1643, of " The iucorjioratiou of the Providence 
Plantations in Narraganset bay in New England,'* gave place to the title 
which has ever since been preserved of " Rhode Island and Providence Plan- 
tations," now abbreviated in common use to the name Rhode Island. It was 
not tiU 1644 that the colonists changed the Indian name to " Rhode Island," 
or the " Isle of Rhodes." The derivation of this name has given rise to much 
discussion. By what strange fancy this island was ever supposed to resemble 
that of Rhodes, on the coast of Asia Minor, is difficult to imagine, and it is 
equally strange that the tradition that it was named from such resemblance 
should be transmitted or be believed, unless, indeed, because it is easier to 
adopt a geographical absurdity than to investigate an historical point. 

Verrazano, a Florentine navigator in the service of Francis I. of France, 
explored the American coast, and spent more than two weeks in the spi-ing of 
1524 in the spacious harbor upon which Newjwrt now stands. The passage 
in his narrative that has been cited as authority by the advocates of this prev- 
alent mistake, refers to Block Island, which with much more geographical ac- 
curacy than in the case of Rhode Island, may be thought to resemble the 
Mediterranean island. 

The celebrated Dutch navigator Adrian Block, gave his own name, still 
preserved with the omission of the Christian name, to that island which Ver- 
razano had before noticed as resembling the Isle of Rhodes. The name in 
full is found on the Dutch charts of that day. Afterward, like his Italian 
predecessor, he sailed into Narraganset Bay, where he commemorated the 
fiery aspect of the plac3, caused by the red clay in some poi'tious of its 
shores, by giving it the name of Roodt Eylandt — the Red Island, and by easy- 
transposition, Rhode Island ; and Yerrazano's casual notice of the neighboring 
island has been inadvertently transferred to this. 



SETTLEMENT OF AQUEDNECK. 71 

they commenced a settlement called Pocasset, at tlie cove chap. 

on the northeast part of the island, in the town of Ports- ^ — ,Z^ 

mouth. The colony increased rapidly durintr the sum- 16 3 8. 

. n -,-, . . ?■ -:• XI • March 

mer, so that, m the lollowmg sprmg, a portion oi their 24. 

numher moved to the southwest part of the island, and 

began the settlement of Newport. 16 39. 



'A 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE ABORIGINES OF RHODE ISLAND— I'EQUOT WAR. 



CHAP. ^^^E have now traced the causes whicli led to the set- 

^'^ tlement of Providence and Aquedneck. Before speak- 
ing of the hxter settlements within what is now the State 
of Eh ode Island, let us glance at the condition of the 
country at the time when Wm. Blackstone first broke 
the stillness of the iirimeval forest with the axe of the 
English pioneer, on the hanks of the stream that now 
hears his name ; when Roger Williams with his little 
Ijand first crossed the l^eekonk, to found a State upon 
principles as novel to his own race as to the swarthy 
Indians with whom he sought a home ; when John Clark 
and his brave companions peaceably purchased " the Eden 
of America" from its aboriginal lords, and founded a 
Christian colony in the midst of heathen barbarism. 

A fertile soil yielded an ample return for the simple 
agriculture of the Indians. Numerous streams, frequented 
by the trout and the salmon, discharged themselves into 
a broad and beautiful bay, whose full extent was yet un- 
known to the sails of commerce, but whicli was dotted 
with emerald islands, and on its shores were found the de- 
licious shellfish that furnished the favorite food and the 
only money to the rude natives. Forests, the undisturbed 
growth of centuries, overspread the land and sheltered 



THE INDIAN TRIBES. 73 

alike tlie bear, the pautlier, the wolf, the red deer and chap. 
the fox, with their natural master the aboriginal Man. J^:^ 
Dense swamps furnished a lurking-place for the serpent, 10 3 8. 
and a safe retreat for the feeble in time of war. Hills 
and rocks, sloping valleys, and verdant plains diversified 
the scene, spread out with all the wildness of nature, and 
over all the Indian roamed, unmindful, as yet, of that 
other race which was so soon to supplant his own. 

The principal tribes of southern New England were 
the Massachusetts on the east, the Pokanokets inhabiting 
the Plymouth region, and including among their subordi- 
nate tribes the Wampanoags, who dwelt around Mount 
Hope Bay ; the Narragansets, who inhabited nearly all of 
the present State of Rhode Island, including the islands 
in the bay. Block Island, and the east end of Long Island ; 
and the Pequots, who with the Mohegans, with whom 
they soon became blended, occupied the whole of Con- 
necticut. Westward of these in New York were the sav- 
age tribes of Mohawks, part of the Six Nations, who were 
accused of being cannibals, and were every where dreaded 
for their cruelty. The great tribes were ruled by one or 
more chiefs or sachems, and were divided into many sub- 
urdinate tribes, each with its own petty sachem or saga- 
more. The Narragansets were at one time the most 
numerous and powerful of all the New England tribes. 
Shortly before the landing of the Pilgrims a pestilence, 
by some supposed to have been the small-pox, and by 
others the yellow fever, had swept over the seaboard of ^^^^^ '' 
New England and nearly depopulated some of the tribes.^ 1613. 
Prior to this the Narragansets had extended their con- 
quests over all the eastern tribes, and at that time their 
dominion spread from the Pawcatuck River to the Merri- 
mack. The Massachusetts and the Pokanokets paid 
them tribute, as did the Montauk Indians of Long Island. 
Wonumefconomy, Sachem of Aquedneck, confessed the 

^ Gookiu's Indians of N. England, cliap. 2. 



74 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, sovereignty of the Narragansets. The Niantics around 
^^^^.^ Pawcatiick Kiver, whose sachem was Ninnigret, a por- 
1 *^"» 1 3. tion of the wandering Nipmucks to the north and west, 
and the tribes of Pumham and Soconoco, inhabiting wliat 
is now Kent County, were all subsidiary to and formed 
a portion of the great Narraganset tril^e, whose chief 
sachems were the sage and peaceful Canonicus and his 
high-souled nephew Miantinomi, How long the empire 
of tlic Narragansets had been established over the other 
subject tribes is unknown. At the time of the arrival of 
• the English it had reached its culminating point. That 
they were a proud and martial race is proved by the ex- 
tent of their conquests. These were savage virtues in 
which at one tiiue certainly the Narragansets held pre- 
eminence. The empire wliich the valor of his jiredeces- 
sors had acquired, was preserved by the wisdom of Canon- 
icus, until the English emigration gave opportunity to 
the Pokanolcets gradually to withdraw their allegiance, 
and seek the dangerous friendship of the colonists. The 
policy of Canonicus was peace, and was pursued so far as 
the warlike spirit of his neighbors would permit. Under 
it the Narragansets became the most commercial and 
civilized of any of the natives, and on this account they 
were taiuited by the hostile Pequots. At one time the 
Narragansets could bring over five thousand warriors into 
the field,' and one would meet a dozen of their towns in 
the course of twenty miles travel.' Tlieir weapons were the 
bow and arrow and club. It was not till intercourse with 
Europeans had made them acquainted with the use of 
metals that hatchets were used, which being placed on 
the end of their clubs formed the dreaded tomaliawk that 
has since become the adopted emblem of Indian warfare. 
Two years after the English landed at Plymouth the Nar- 
rago^nsets sent to them, by way of challenge, a bundle 

' Gookiu's ludians of New England, chap. 2. 
" Key to the Iiidiau language, chap. 1. 



1G2: 



INDIAN CHARACTERISTICS. 75 

of arrows tied with a snake skin.' The tomahawk was chap. 
of later date, and the horrible custom among the Indians ._^,^ 
of scalping their prisoners was taught them by the French, 16 2 2. 
before which time the heads of their victims were taken 
as trophies.^ 

The natives are described, by one who knew them well, 
as being of two sorts. The better class were sober and 
grave, yet cheerful, and as ready to begin as to return a 
salute upon meeting the English, while the lower class, of 
whom the more obscure had no names, were more rude 
and clownish and rarely saluted first, " but upon salutation 
re-salute lovingly." ^ Their mode of doing obeisance to 
an offended sachem was by stroking him upon both his 
shoulders, and using a word which signified " I pray your 
favor." ^ Hospitality and a grateful remembrance of 
kindness, proportionate to their vindictive resentment for 
injuries received, were marked traits of Indian character. 
They freely shared their scanty meals with the passing 
stranger, and extended to him the protection of their 
wigwams, often, with a delicacy that finds no parallel in 
civilized life, sleeping out of doors themselves to allay the 
fears or promote the comfort of their temporary guests. 
Their domestic feelings were very strong. So dearly did 
they hold the tie of brotherhood that it was usual for the 
survivor to pay the debts of a deceased brother, and the 
brother of an escaped murderer was executed in his stead 
as full atonement for the crime. Their fondness for their 
children was carried to an excess that made them unruly 
and disobedient. Orphans were always provided for, and 
beggary was unknown among them. Marriage was publicly 
solemnized by consent of the parents. Fornication was 
not considered criminal in single jjersons, but adultery was 
severely condemned. The injured party might claim a 

' Winslow, in Priuce, p. 200. 

^ Niles' Hist, of French and Indian Wars, p. 174 in 3 M. H. C. v. G. The 
French learned it from tlie Huns. ^ Key to the Indian language, cliap. i. 



76 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CUAP. divorce, and if the woman was false, the husband, in 

HI • 

_J^ presence of witnesses, might heat the offender without 

1 G 2 2. resistance on his part, and if death resulted from the 
punishment it was not revenged. Polygamy was toler- 
ated, hut among the Narragansets monogam}'- prevailed. 
Dower was given hy the husband to the parents of the 
maid, or if he were poor his friends contributed for him. 
Divorce was permitted, as among the Jews, for other 
causes than adultery. The Indians were very prolific, and 
as usual among savage nations where the women till the 
ground and perform the severest manual labor, the pains 
of childbirth were very light. The proportion of deaths 
in infancy was larger than among the English, from the 
want of proper treatment and ignorance of medicine. In 
sickness they used such simple remedies as experience 
had taught them, and which their Powwaws, or priests, 
or medicine men, disj^ensed, accomj^anied with hideous 
singing and howling, in which the rest of the people 
joined, until the patient either recovered or expired. The 
Powwaws extorted large sums for these services, often to 
the ruin of their patients. The principal treatment in 
use among them was the sweat bath, which was taken in 
this manner. A small cave made in the side of a hill near 
some brook, was heated with wood placed over a heap 
of stones in the mid^dle ; when the fire was removed the 
stones still retained great heat. Small parties of Indians 
then stripped themselves and entered the cave, sitting 
around the hot stones for an hour or more, smoking and talk- 
ing, while a profuse perspiration opened every pore, cleans- 
ing the skin and often removing the sources of disease. 
Emerging from the cave in this condition they would 
plunge into the brook, whether in summer or winter, and 
receive no harm from this sudden and violent transition.' 
When one was taken ill the women of the family black- 

' Among the Tartar tribes of Siberia and in Lapland tbe same severe 
treatment is in common use, particularly for fevers. 



INDIAN FUNERAL RITES. 77 

euecl tlieir faces with soot, and when death ensued all the chap. 
men of the neighborhood adopted the same peculiar style ._i^i_ 
of mourning, smearing tlieir faces thick with soot, which 1 C 2 2. 
was continued for several weeks, or if the deceased was a 
distinguished person, for a whole year. Their visits of 
condolence were not less remarkable than the mode and 
length of their lamentations. They were frequently 
made, and were always accompanied by patting the cheek 
and head of the afflicted parties, and bidding them " be 
of good cheer." Their burial service was still more singu- 
lar. The corpse was wrapt in mats or coats, answering 
to our winding sheets. This was a sacred duty not to be 
performed by a common person, but devolving upon some 
one who was held in high esteem. The body was then 
laid beside the grave and all sat down to bewail their loss 
for some time. The corpse was then placed in the grave, Oct. 
and sometimes some of the personal effects of the de- 
ceased were buried with him. A second lamentation was 
then held over the grave, and upon it was spread the mat 
upon which the person had died and the dish from which 
he ate. Often too his coat of skin was hung upon a tree 
nearest the grave, and there left to decay, as a sacred 
thing which it would be sacrilege to touch. In the case 
of the death of a prince the ceremonies were yet more 
striking. Canonicus, after the Inirial of his son, burned 
his own residence with all its contents, of great value, in 
solemn remembrance of the dead, and as a kind of 
humble expiation to the gods who had thus bereaved 
him. The Indians carefully avoided mentioning the 
name of a deceased jjerson, but employed some circumlo- 
cution when referring to the dead. If a stransjer acci- 
dentally spoke the name of such he was checked, and 
whoever wilfully named him was fined. If any man bore 
the name of the dead he immediately changed his name, 
and so ftir was this idea carried, that between difierent 
■tfibes the naming of their departed Sachems was held as 
a just cause of war. 



78 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP. In religion it is difficult to say whether the Indiaus 

,J1^ were Polytheists or Pantheists. They imagined a God in 
16 22. every locality and connected with every phenomenon of 
nature. Eoger Williams obtained the names of thirty- 
seven of their deities, to all of which they prayed in their 
solemn worship. Their great God Cowtantowit lived in 
the southwest, the region of balmy airs. From him came 
their grain and fruits, and to his home sped the souls of 
their virtuous dead to enjoy an eternity of sensual bliss, 
while the spirits of the wicked wandered without rest. 
Here we find the doctrine of the Immortality of the Soul 
entertained by a barbarous race who affirmed that they re- 
ceived it from their ancestors, and whose connection with 
civilized nations had not then been sufficient to account 
for its existence in that way. They were ignorant of 
Revelation, yet here was Plato's great problem solved in 
the x\merican wilderness, and believed by all the aborigi- 
nes of the West. 

What connection subsisted between Cowtantowit and 
their many other Gods does not appear. It is probable 
that their religious system was too vague and undefined 
to admit, even in their own minds, of any fixed relation- 
ship among their deities. But Cowtantowit certahily held 
the place of a Supreme Being, clothed with all the attri- 
butes of Deity, while the existence and nature of their 
many other Gods argues a species of pantheism which 
minds so clear and thoughtful, unaided by higher knowl- 
edge, yet capable of evolving the idea of the soul's im- 
mortality, might readily adopt. They acknowledged the 
power and agency of their Deity in all things whether 
good or ill. If a child died their God was angry, and 
was entreated to withhold his chastening hand from the 
surviving ofi'spring. If an accident occurred, the wrath 
of God occasioned it ; and so in case of good fortune the}- 
returned thanks to God for the blessing. In the time of 
disaster, and after a plentiful harvest or successful hunt^ 



INDIAN DIVERSIONS. 79 

or on tlie occasion of peace or war, tliey held a great feast chap. 
or dance. The Powwaws commenced with an invocation ..^^^^^ 
to the Gods, in which the people joined with violent dan- 10 2 2 
cing and shouting. Always once a year, in the winter, 
they held a great public feast, or thanksgiving, to Cow- 
tantowit, for the fruits of the harvest. Private feasts 
upon particular occasions were frequent, where besides 
feasting the whole company, a great amount of money 
and goods was distributed among the guests, a small sum 
to each one, who as soon as he received the gift went out 
and shouted three times for the health and happiness of 
the donor. 

The Indians were fond of sports and addicted to gam- 
bling, using a kind of dice made of plum stones. Pub- 
lic games were often held in houses from one to two hun- 
dred feet long, erected for the purpose, where many thou- 
sands would meet to dance. Towns would often meet to 
play against other towns with dice, on which occasions 
an arbor or play-house was built of long poles sixteen or 
twenty feet high, from w^hicli large amounts of their mo- 
ney, staked on the game, were susiDcnded, and two men 
were chosen out of the rest, in course, to play amid the 
shouting of their abettors. Individuals would often stake 
every thing, their money, houses, clothes, and even them- 
selves, like the ancient Germans, described by Tacitus, in 
this absorbing vice. Football was a favorite summer di- 
version, when they would meet, town against town, to 
contend on some smooth plain or sandy shore, and stake 
large sums on the result. 

Hunting, fowling and fishing were the chief occupa- 
tions of the men, in which they often displayed great 
skill and powers of endurance. They often met in large 
parties to drive the woods for deer. In the autumn they 
took them in traps, of which they had many kinds. In 
fowling they were expert, being excellent marksmen with 
the bow or gun, and skilled in laying snares for the ducks, 



80 HISTOEY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, geese, turkeys and other fowl that abounded on the sea 
.Jl^ and shore. Cormorants which frequented the rocks off 
1G2 2. the coast they would take in great quantities at night 
while these birds were asleep. Blackbirds caused the 
Indians great annoyance by their countless numbers. For 
protection against them the seed was planted quite deep, 
lodges were built in the middle of the cornfields, where 
they staid at sprouting time to frighten away the birds, 
and hawks were tamed and kept about their houses 
as a still greater security from the depredation of the 
smaller birds. Crows, although doing some harm, were 
lield in veneration by the Indians, and were rarely killed. 
They had a tradition that a crow first brought to them 
a grain of corn in one ear, and a bean in the other, from 
the fields of their great God Cowtantowit in the south- 
west, and from that seed came all their corn and beans. 
They were very fond of fishing, and would endure much 
hardsliip in its pursuit. They chiefly used nets made of 
hemp, setting weirs across the rivers and killing the bass 
with their arrows as they became entangled in the meshes. 
The head of the bass was considered a great luxury. 
The sturgeon they caught with a kind of harpoon of their 
own invention, going out in their canoes to attack it, and 
so highly was its flesh esteemed by them that they would 
rarely sell it to the English. 

Their canoes were made from the trunk of the pine, 
oak, or chestnut tree, burnt out and liewn into shape. 
Ten or twelve days were required to complete one. They 
were uf all sizes, carrying from two to forty men, and were 
worked with p:iddles, or when the wind was fair a blanket 
raised upon a pole was used as a sail. In these canoes 
they would push boldly out on the open sea, sometimes 
in fleets of thirty or forty, and if they met an enemy a 
regular sea fight would ensue. They were such expert 
swimmers that if overset two or three miles from land 
they would reach the shore unharmed. 



INDIAN MANUFACTURES AND BIONEY. 81 

The Narragansets were skilled in the maniiflicture of chap. 
bracelets, stone pipes and earthen vessels, and were the .J;!^ 
principal coiners of wampumpeage, the established cur- 10 2 2. 
rency of the country, and which continued to be so long 
after the European settlement. This was of two sorts, 
the white called wampum, made from the stem or stock 
of the periwinkle shell, and valued at six for an English 
penny, and the black, made from the shell of the r[uahawg 
or round clam,' and of twice tlie value of the white, or 
three for a penny. The dark part or eye of this shell was 
ground to a smooth round surface, polished and drilled, 
ready to be strung," and thus v.^orn as a necklace or brace- 
let, or sewed to bits of cloth and used as a girdle, or car- 
ried as a scarf about the shoulders. The name wampum 
or peage was applied to both sorts. The regalia of their 
Princes was made of these beads, with the different colors 
handsomely blended and curiously wrought in figures. 
The people living on the seashore generally made peage, 
and no license from the Sachem was required to do so. 
A string of three hundred and sixty wliite beads made a 
fathom, and its ordiiiary value was five shillings sterling. 
A fathom of black was worth two of white. Before the 
extent of the fur trade had reduced the value of beaver 
in England the fathom of Avampum was worth ten shil- 
lings, and the Indians could not understand why their 
money, in consequence, would bring only half as much as 
formerly. This currency was used by the Indians for six 
hundred miles in the interior, in trading among them- 
selves, and also with the English, French and Dutch, 
who made it legal tender. This money was often coun- 
terfeited, but the Indians were quick to detect the real 
value, requiring an allowance for defective pieces and re- 
jecting the spurious article. Their trade consisted chiefly 
in furs, provisions and their rude manufactures, wherein 
the principle of division of labor was well understood, 

^ Venus Mercatorin. Linnens. - Morton's Memorial, Ap. p. 388. 

VOL. I 6 



82 HISTOEY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND, 

CHAP, some making only bows, some arrows, some dishes, wliile 
,____^ some hunted and others fished, and those on the seashore 
1 G 2 2. made wamjnun, collecting the shells in smnmer to coin 
them in winter. They were shrewd at a bargain and 
would try all markets, taking their wares forty or fifty 
miles or more to secure a good price, and being ever sus- 
picious of attempts to deceive them it required great pru- 
dence and integrity in dealing with them. They eagerly 
sought European trinkets, mirrors, knives, tools and fire- 
arms. The latter it was forbidden by law to sell to them, 
but through the French and Dutch, and from unprinci- 
pled English they obtained them.i The habit of beg- 
ging, which in their primitive state was unknown among 
them, they soon contracted after the English came, and 
were very troublesome in that way. True to the maxim 
that '■' flatterers always want something," they would pre- 
face their petition wdth some adulation of the wealth, the 
wisdom, or the valor of the English. They were fond of 
running in debt, and those who trusted them usually lost 
both their goods and their customer. These habits, to- 
gether with drunkenness and gluttony, to none of which 
were they previously addicted, were acquired by contact 
with Europeans. Still there were many fair and honora- 
ble traders among them who scorned alike to beg or to 
deceive. 

Among their primitive virtues punctuality was promi- 
nent. The exactness with wliich they kept a promise in- 
volving attention to time was remarkable, and they were 
slow to receive excuses from any who foiled in this re- 
spect. They measured time accurately by the sun by 
day and by the moon or stars by night, and divided their 
year into thirteen lunar mouths. They had an intuitive 
sense of justice, v/ere prompt to award it, and quick to 
retaliate where it was withheld. If a robbery occurred 
between different tribes the offended party demanded jus- 

' Tliis was one of the chief complaiuts against Morton of Mt. "VVoUaston. 



INDIAN COUNCILS. 83 

tice, and if recompense were refused resort to reprisals chap. 
was bad, yet care was taken not to seize more than a just ,^_^_L_ 
compensation for tlie loss sustained. A strict regard to 16 2 2. 
public opinion controlled the action of their sachems, 
whose authority, although hereditary and absolute, was 
rarely exerted, in important affairs, in opposition to the 
popular will. Punishments, whether capital or only 
corporal, were usually inflicted by the sachem, although 
sometimes, when a public execution might endanger the 
peace of the tribe, the sachem would send one of his 
chief warriors secretly to behead an obnoxious person. 

Their love of news amounted to a passion. Their 
civilized successors do not peruse the teeming columns of 
the daily press with more avidity than the red man wel- 
comed to the council fire or the wigwam the bearer of 
some novel intelligence. Upon these occasions they 
would all sit round in a circle, two or three deep, each 
man with his pipe, while amid profound silence the news 
was told', or a consultation was held, the orator speaking 
for an hour or more with earnest language and impas- 
sioned gesture. Eloquence was a native gift with these 
rude sons of the forest, and exerted as powerful an influ- 
ence upon their deliberations as ever it did on the Gre- 
cian stage, or in the Koman forum. Their mode of col- 
lecting an audience, especially when the news was of 
great importance, such as a declaration of Avar, was to 
send swift messengers to rouse the country, and at every 
town to which the runner came a fresh messenger was 
sent to the next town, until the last, coming near the 
royal residence, shouted often, every man who heard it 
taking up the shout, and all assembled quicldy at the 
council place. The speed of these runners was extraor- 
dinary, owing to constant training at races, and having 
their limbs anointed from infancy. They have been 
known to run from eighty to a hundred miles in a sum- 
mer day, and back again in two days. The farm labor 



84 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, and domestic drudgery was performed entirely by the wo- 
^^ men, excej^t on the breaking up of new ground, when the 
1 (5 2 2. whole neighborhood, men and women, would unite in the 
task. The women planted, tilled and harvested the crops 
with little or no aid from the men, dried the corn, beat it 
and prejmred it for food. They made all the domestic 
utensils of earthenware, and would carry incredible bur- 
dens of pro"\dsions, mats, and a child besides, on their 
backs. The tobacco -plant alone was cultivated by the 
men. This they used for the toothache, to which they 
were very subject, and as a stimulant, prizing it as highly 
as do their civilized successors. 

Their staple article of food was Indian corn pounded 
to meal and parched, which they mixed with a little wa- 
ter. A sj^oonful of this preparation, with an equal quan- 
tity of water, would suffice for a meal. A small basket 
of it would support a man for many days. It was easily 
taken on long journeys, slung to the back or earned in a 
leathern girdle about the loins. Of the unparched meal 
they made a pottage called " nassaump," Avhence the En- 
glish name " samp," the same which in New England is 
now called hasty pudding or mush. Chestnuts they dried 
and preserved the year round as a luxury. Acorns also 
were used when there was a scarcity of corn, or for a va- 
riety. They extracted the oil from walnuts and used it 
in cooking and also for anointing their persons. Straw- 
berries were very abundant, and during the season they 
lived almost wholly upon a delicious bread made by bruis- 
ing them in a mortar and mixing them with meal. 
Whortleberries and currants were dried and kept the 
year round ; beaten to powder and mixed with their 
parched meal they made a favorite kind of cake. Sum- 
mer or bush squashes, of which the Indian name was 
askuta-squash, and beans, which next to corn was their 
principal dependence, Avere much used. The sea and the 
forest supplied them with an abundance of animal food. 



INDIAN WIGWAMS. 85 

Their venison and other meats were dried in the snn and 
smoked for winter use, as were some varieties of fish. 
But of all their different sorts of food none were more 10 2 2. 
highly esteemed than clams. In all seasons of the year, 
at low tide, the women dug for them on the sea-shore. 
The natural juices of this shellfish served them in place 
of salt as a seasoning for their broth, their nassaump and ' 
their bread, while the tenderness and delicacy of the flesh 
have preserved its popularity to this day, amid all the 
culinary devices of an advanced civilization. Whales, 
sometimes sixty feet in length, were often cast up on the 
shores, and being cut in pieces were sent far and near as 
a most palatable present. 

Their wigwams were made with long poles, usually 
set in a circle and drawn nearly together at the upper 
end, leaving a hole at the top to serve the double pur- 
pose of a window and chimney. This part was the work 
of the men. The covering and lining was done by the 
women. The summer houses were covered with birch or 
chestnut bark finely dressed ; the winter ones with thick 
mats woven by the women. The interior was lined with 
mats fancifully embroidered. A house of sixteen feet 
diameter would accommodate two families. Some of the 
houses were oblong, and were designated by the number 
of fires that could be made in them. The entrance was 
closed by a hanging mat, although sometimes a door was 
made of bark. They rarely fastened their wigwams, ex- 
cept when about to leave the tovv^n, in which case the last 
one secured it on the inside by a cord and got out at the 
chimney. It was a universal custom, which all the In- 
dians strictly observed, to have small detached houses 
where the women dwelt secluded during the term of their 
monthly sickness, and no male ever entered these wig- 
wams.' Their household furniture consisted of large 

' It is very remarkable that, of all otiier nations of whom we have any 
knowledge, the Jews alone held to this singular custom. 



8G HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

liemp sacks, baskets, mats and earthenware, the products 
of female industry. They often removed their houses, in 
1622. summer and ■winter, and for convenience in hunting;, or 
for their agricultural labors, and always when a death oc- 
curred among them. The mats were easily transported, 
so that setting new poles was the only labor attending a 
removal, and a few hours sufficed to accomplish the whole. 
Of their houses erected for public purposes we have al- 
ready written. They were larger and often more loosely 
constructed than their wigwams. The great council 
house of the Narragansets was fifty feet in diameter. 

In personal appearance the Indians were very erect, 
with firm, compact bodies, high cheek bones, hazel eyes, 
straight black hair and light copi^er-colored complexion. 
They painted their faces, chiefly with a red pigment 
prepared from clay or the bark of the pine tree, the 
women for ornament, and the men, in war, to appear 
more terrible to their enemies. During the period of 
mourning, as before related, they besmeared their faces 
with soot or lampblack, and refrained from i)ainting for 
decoration. 

The Indian languages were remarkably rich and co- 
pious, regular in their inflections, and susce2)tible of com- 
binations beyond almost any other known tongue. The 
native languages of North America have been reduced to 
four classes: 1, the Karalit, of the Esquimaux; 2, the 
Delaware, of the East ; 3, the Iroquois, of the West, and 
4, the Floridian, of the Gulf regions. They were divided 
into numerous dialects, of which those of New England 
were considered as varieties of the Delaware. The lan- 
guage of the Narragansets, to which Koger AVilliams' 
Key is devoted, was spoken, with more or less of idiomatic 
variation, over a region of country extending north and 
south from Ehode Island about six hundred miles. 

Such was the condition of the aborigines of Rhode 
Island when a new and discordant element was engrafted 



MURDER OF OLDHAM AND OTHERS. 87 

on their social and political system by the advent of the chap. 
English. Massasoit was the first to recognize the im- ^^ 
portance of tliis new element, and hy formal treaty, to 1621. 
enlist the English upon his side, in throwing off the yoke 22. 
of the Narragansets ; a treaty which his tribe preserved 
inviolate for more than half a century, and was only 
ruptured when the fiery spirit of Philip of Pokanoket, the 
younger son of Massasoit, could no longer brook the wrong 
and outrage heaped upon him by the whites. The Nar- 
ragansets viewed with a jealous eye this dangerous alli- 
ance, and threatened the English \^ ith hostihties ; but 1 c 2 9 
the bold attitude of the colonists averted the danger. Jan. 

The Pequots, the ancient enemies of the Narragansets, 
perhaps emboldened by the partial defection of the east- 
ern Indians, and by the fact that Miantinomi, the younger 
sachem of the Narragansets, was in his minority, em- 
braced every opportunity to make war against them. 
Block Island and Montauk fell into their hands, and 
the Pequot conquest was extended ten miles east of 
Pawcatuck river. But a fatal disaster was soon to over- 1 3 2. 
whelm the Pequot tribe and to efface their name from off" 
the earth. A number of murders had been committed 
in which it was proved that they had participated, either 
directly or by affording shelter to the perpetrators. One 
Captain Stone and his entire crew of ten men, in a ship 
from Virginia, trading on the Connecticut river, were 
murdered while asleep, and during a few months sue- 1 n y 3. 
c ceding the death of Oldbam some twenty more were 
tortured and killed on Connecticut river. The murder l*^f''- 

July. 

of John Oldham was the immediate cause of the Pequot 
war. He was a daring trader with the Indians, and was 
perhaps tlie first Englishman who contemplated settling 
in Rhode Island. So highly was he esteemed by the In- 
dians that Chibacuwese, afterwards sold to Gov. Wm- 
throp and Roger "Williams and called Prudence Island, 
was freely offered to him as an inducement to establish 



88 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND, ' 

himself among them. Oldham, with two English boys 
and two Narraganset Indians, had been upon a trading 

1 6 3 (). voyage to the Connecticut river ; on his return, touching 
at Block Island, he was murdered and his companions 
carried off. John Gallup, who was also returning from 
the river in a small vessel, seeing Oldham's boat full of 
Indians near the island, bore up for it. The Indians 
made sail for the main land, but Gallup gallantly pur- 
sued them and, after a sharj? contest, boarded the craft, 
driving most of the enemy into the sea. The mangled 
corpse of Oldham was found on board. His companions 
and most of the goods had already been taken away. 

Jiiiy rpj^g news of this outrage reaching Boston caused great 

excitement. In a few days a deputation, including the 
2G. two Indians who were with Oldham, arrived from Canon- 
icus witli a letter from Koger Williams to Gov. Vane, 
concerning the tragedy, and soon afterwards the two boys 
were safely returned to their homes, with another letter 
from Mr. Williams, stating that Miantinomi had sent an 
expedition to Block Island to recover the boys and the 
property, and to avenge the murder of Oldham. An 
embassy accompanied by Catshamekin, sachem of the 

Aug. Massachusetts, as interjireter, was sent to Canonicus to 
^'o treat with him on the subject of the murder. Upon their 
return tliey reported " good success in their business," 
and that " they observed in the sachem nnich state, great 
command over his men, and marvellous wisdom in his 
answers and in the carriage of the whole treaty, clearing 
himself and his neighbors of the murder, and offering as- 
sistance for revenge of it, yet upon very safe and wary 
conditions." It was proved that some of the Narragan- 
set sachems had been in the plot, but that their chiefs, 
Canonicus and Miantinomi, were not concerned in it. 

An expedition, consisting of ninety volunteers, under 
command of John Endicott, was forthwith equipped to 
demand satisfaction of the Indians. They embarked in 



30. 



ATTACK ON THE PEQUOTS. 89 

three pinnaces, with orders to take Block Island, and chap. 

thence to proceed to the Pequot country to secure the ^^^ 

murderers of Captain Stone, to obtain indemnity for the 1 6 3 G. 
crime, and hostages for the future good conduct ot the 25?' 
Pequots. After a sliort skirmish they landed on the isl- 
and, where they remained two days, and having burnt 
the wigwams and staved the canoes, they left for the 
Connecticut river. • At Saybrook they received a rein- 
forcement of twenty men and sailed for the Pequot har- 
bor, at the mouth of Thames river. Sassacus, the chief 
sachem, was absent at Long Island. A skirmish ensued, 
in which some of the Indians were killed, their town was 
burned, and the next day the wigwams on the opposite 
side of the river were destroyed, and the canoes broken 
up, after which the expedition returned in safety to Bos- , 
ton without the loss of a man. By this affair the Pequots 14. " 
had fourteen killed and forty wounded, and w^ere greatly 
exasperated. The policy of this hostile expedition has 
been severely condemned by Lieut. Gardiner, commander 
of Fort Saybrook, in his history of the war. Had the 
instructions to Endicott limited his powers to the Oldham 
matter, the settlers of Connecticut might not have suf- 
fered so much from the fury of the Indians. The gov- 
ernor of Plymouth remonstrated with the Massachusetts 
authorities for having needlessly provoked a war. 

But the mischief was already done. The Pequots 
were thoroughly roused, and wreaked their vengeance, in 
the ensuing winter, upon the defenceless inhabitants of 
Connecticut. They also sent ambassadors to the Narra- 
gansets, with whom they had been in perpetual enmity, 
offering to bury the hatchet, and proposing a league with 
them and the Mohegans to effect the utter destruction of 
the EngHsh, and thereby to avert the calamity which 
they foresaw must soon annihilate the Indian race. It 
was a perilous hour for New England when the envoys of 
Sassacus opened their negotiations with the assembled 



90 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

court of tlieir ancient foe, the waiy and tlioughtful Ca- 
nonicus. Eight was on the side of the Peqnots — the right 

1 G 3 C. to the lordshij) of the soil, in which the raj)id encroach- 
ment of the whites must soon restrict them. National 
existence depended upon a prompt and united effort to 
extirpate the race whose moral superiority was already 
asserted in reducing the aboriginal princes of the eastern 
tribes to a state of vassalage. Life, liberty, and the pur- 
suit of happiness, the same considerations which in the 
next century were urged as the inalienable rights of man, 
in the struggle with the mother country, were as clearly 
understood by the Indians, and, were no less dear to them 
than to their enemies, while to these arguments there w\as 
the added bitterness of a conflict of races. Every in- 
ducement that could be brought to bear upon the case 
was skilfully employed by the Pequot emissaries to attain 
their end. The decision was one that involved results 
ecjually momentous to the Indians and the English, and 
already the truthful eloquence of the Pequots seemed 
about to prevail in the wavering council of the Narragan- 
sets. 

Q(,^ At this imnjincnt crisis Roger Williams appeared 

among them. He was the only man in New England 
who could avert the impending evil. His own life, and 
that of the few who were with him, was secure in the 
love of the Narragansets. Still, though smarting under 
the injuries of recent oppression, he threw liimself be- 
tween his own j-tersecutors and their relentless foes. At 
the risk of his life, from the Pequot tomahawks and the 
perils of the waj^, he sought the wigwam of Canonicus, 
and accomplished, what a high authority has pronounced 
" the most intrepid and most successful achievement of 
the whole war ; an action as perilous in its execution as 
it was fortunate in its issue."' At the earnest request 
of the Boston magistrates, now seriously alarmed at the 

' 1 Bancroft, 398. 



WILLIAMS'S MISSION TO THE NArvRAC4ANSETS. 91 

aspect of affairs, Williams undertook this dangerous mis- chap. 
sion. His own words can best describe the nature and _,__ 
result of his labors : — 16 3 6. 

" Upon letters received from the Governor and Coun- 
cil at Boston, requesting me to use my utmost and speed- 
iest endeavors to break and hinder the league labored for 
by the Pequots and Mohegans against the English, (ex- 
cusing the not sending of company and supplies by the 
haste of the business,) the Lord helped me immediately 
to put my hfe into my hand, and scarce acquainting my 
wife, to ship myself alone, in a poor canoe, and to cut 
through a stormy wind, witli great seas, every minute in 
hazard of life, to the sachem's house. Three days and 
nights my business forced me to lodge and mix with the 
bloody Pequot ambassadors, whose hands and arms, me- 
thought, reeked with the blood of my countrymen, mur- 
dered and massacred by them on Connecticut river, and 
from whom I could not but nightly look for their bloody 
knives at my own throat also. God wondrously preserved 
me, and helped me to break to pieces the Pequots' nego- 
tiation and design ; and to make and finish, by many trav- 
els and charges, the Enghsh league with the Narragan- 
sets and Mohegans against the Pequots."' 

' Letter to Maj. Mason. It is a singiilar fact that Wiutlirop alone, of all 
the old writers upon this war, makes any mention of the part performed by 
Roger Williams in averting a fatal catastrophe. Had not the well-laid plan 
of the Pequots been frustrated by the influence of Williams, the result of this 
earliest American war of extermination would, according to all humau cal- 
culation, have been reversed. Yet none of the Massachusetts historians, be- 
fore the present day, have had the candor to admit the fact. We can excuse 
the military writers, Mason, Underbill, Vincent and Gardiner, for the omis- 
sion, as they aim chiefly to describe the active hostilities in which themselves 
bore a part ; but that Morton, Hubbard, Johuson, Mather, Hutchinson, and 
others, who give a more or less detailed account of the negotiations comiected 
witb the war, should omit all mention of the debt of gratitude they owed to the 
founder of Rhode Island upon that occasion, is somewhat remarkable. Even the 
liberal Prince in his preface to Mason's history simply says, " Au agency from 
the Massachusetts colony to the Narragansets happily preserved their staggering 
friendship;" leaving us to apply the remark either to the deputation sent on 



92 HISTOKY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP. Upon the conclusion of this all-important negotiation, 

-^^ Miantinomi, being sent for by Gov. Vane, went to Boston, 
1 6 3 G. together with two sons of Canonicus, another sachem, 
21 ' and nearly twenty attendants. He was received with 
military honors, and the prelhninaries of a treaty being 
at once agreed npon, it was formally concluded the next 
23- day, when the Indians were dismissed in the same man- 
ner. It was a treaty of amity, and of alliance, offensive 
and defensive against the Pequots ; and, because the In- 
dians could not perfectly comprehend all the articles, it 
was agreed that a copy should be sent to Mr. Williams, 
who could best interpret it. This management was hon- 
orable alike to Mr. Williams and to the government of 
Massachusetts. It showed the confidence which both the 
contracting parties placed in the good faith of their in- 
terpreter, and it attests the integrity of the Puritans that 
, ^ they should submit an instrument of such importance to 
April the scrutiny of so strenuous an advocate of Indian rights. 
^- The Pequots, foiled in their attempt, both with the 

Narragansets and the Mohegans, rashly resolved to pros- 
ecute the war unaided. The garrison of Fort Saybrook 
was constantly alarmed by their menaces. Capt. Under- 
bill, with twenty men, was sent to the relief The massa- 
cre at Weathersfield, where six were killed and seven 
^P/^^ taken prisoners and tortured, followed by another slaugh- 

the 8th August, (which Johnson, one of the ahove-named writers, seems to have 
accompanied, and Williams did not,) or to the later and more dangerous mis- 
sion in Octoher, tmdertaken by Williams alone, whose name, in either case, is 
not even mentioned. There is a maxim of Rochefoucault, which is verified 
in this instance ; " II n'est pas si dangereuse de faive du mal a la plupart des 
hommes, que de leur faire troj) de bien." Gov. Winthrop and some of his 
council, in view of the signal services rendered by Mr. Williams throughout 
the war, moved in the General Court, that he be recalled from banishment 
and honored by some high mark of favor. The silence of the court records 
iipou the question is significant. But ample, though tardy, justice has since 
been rendered to the memory of Williams by a son of Massachusetts. The 
elegant historian of the United States has moi-e than atoned for the want of 
magnanimity in his literary predecessors, by the generous sjiirit displayed in 
the ninth chapter of his eloquent work. 



10. 



DESTRUCTION OF THE PEQUOTS. 93 

ter of nine persons, and the capture of two young girls, chap. 
decided the infant colony of Connecticut to declare war ,^,^_;_ 
without delay. Three small towns, Hartford, Windsor 1 6 3 T. 
and Weathersfield, which had heen organized scarcely a { 
year, and contained in aU much less than two hundred 
men, formed the whole colony of Connecticut. The Pe- 
quots could muster nearly a thousand warriors, and had 
two fortified villages, one on the Mystic river, near the 
sea, and the other hut a few miles distant, where Sassa- 
cus, the chief sachem, dwelt. A force of ninety men, 
under Capt. John Mason, was immediately despatched to 
the scene of conflict, accompanied by Uncas, sachem of 
the Mohegans, with ahout sixty of his warriors. All 
doubts of the fidelity of these savage allies, who preceded 
the main body to Fort Saybrook, were speedily dispelled. 
The Mohegans vanquished a party of Pequots near the 
fort, and brought in the scalps of the slain as trophies of 
their prowess. From Saybroolr, Mason, being reinforced 
by Capt. Underbill, sent home twenty of his troops, while 
the main body sailed for Narraganset bay, designing to 
surprise the Pequots in the rear. The forces reached a 
harbor near Wickford on Saturday, passed the Sabbath 
in religious exercises, Avere detained two days more on 
board their vessels by a northwest gale, and then after 
two days of severe march across the country, and being 
joined by a strong force of the Narragansets, they en- 
camped on Thursday night near Fort Mystic. 

The Pequots spent their last night in carousal, exult- 
ing over the English, who they supposed, from seeing the 
vessels sail by some days before, had abandoned the at- 
tack. Their songs were distinctly heard at the English 
outposts until midnight. At daybreak the English, in 
two divisions, assaulted the fort. The Indian allies, ex- 
cept Uncas and one other, remained behind through fear of 
their redoubtable foe. The Pequots were buried in pro- 
found slumber. The crash of musketrv roused them to 



15. 



19. 



94 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, inevitable doom, as the English, Liirsting through the 
^^^^,;^ palisade of sticks and brushwood, rushed upon them 
16 3 7. sword in hand. It was the intention to put the garrison 
to the sword and to save the plunder, but this j)h^n was 
changed. The Indians, as fast as they awoke either crept 
under the beds or fled, when Mason gave the terrible or- 
der, " WE MUST BURN THEM," and scizing a firebrand from 
one of the wigwams applied it to the matted roof A 
northeast wind was blowing at the time. The fire spread 
with great rapidity, soon involving the whole village in 
conflagration. Some of the Pec^uots, climbing the pali- 
sades to escape, were shot down by-tlie English ; others 
rushed wildly into the flames and perished by fire ; a few 
boldly charged upon the enemy and fell by the sword. 
The allied Indians Avere stationed in a circle at a distance 
and killed with their arrows the few, who, fleeing un- 
scathed from their fiery furnace, had escaped the triple 
peril of shot and flame and steel. The massacre was 
complete. One short hour had done the work, and when 
the sun arose, a heap of smouldering ruins, over the man- 
gled and crisping corpses of nearly seven hundred Indians, 
was all that remained of this stronghold of the Pequots. 
Men, women, and children fell alike in this indiscriminate 
and wholesale slaughter. Of the hundreds who an hour 
before were slumbering in fancied security, seven only 
were taken captive and but seven escaped. The loss of 
the English was but two killed and twenty wounded. 

As tliey were leaving the ground a party of three hun- 
dred Indians from the other fort advanced to the attack, 
ignorant of the fate of their comrades. Upon reaching 
the spot they gave way to the wildest demonstrations of 
grief, and then rushing down the liill, charged upon the 
retiring English whose ammunition was nearly exliausted. 
A few skirmishers sufficed to keep them at bay, while the 
English reached the harbor just as their vessels, coming 
round from Narraganset, had entered it. There they met 



CLOSE OF THE WAK. 95 

Capt. Patric with forty Massachusetts troops. Underhill chap. 
placed the wounded on board a vessel and sailed for ,.^.^_1_ 
Connecticut river. The remaining troops marched across 16 3 7. 
the country, and were " nobly entertained by Lieut. Gard- 27 
ner with many great guns," upon reaching Fprt Saybrook 
the next evening. A day of thanksgiving for this signal J"^^^^ 
victory was held in all the churches. 

About a month after the battle of Mystic Capt. 
Staughton with one hundred and twenty men arrived in 
Pequot river to continue the war, and was joined by Ma- 
son with forty men from Connecticut. The remnant of 
the Pequot tribe concealed themselves in swamps or fled 
to the westward. One of their hiding-places was broken 
up and one hundred Indians taken. The men were killed, 
the women and children distributed among the Narragan- 
sets, and sent to Boston as slaves. The troops pursued 
the main body of the fugitives to a, swamp near New 
Haven. Surrounding the swamp they held a i;)arley with 
the Indians, resulting in the surrender of the old men, 
women and children, not belonging to the Pequot tribe, juiy 
to the number of two hundred. The warriors resolved to ^^• 
fight it out, and some sixty of them succeeded during the 
night in breaking through the English lines, after an ob- 
stinate struggle, and effected their escape. One hundred 
and eighty were taken prisoners. In this fight it is said 
that a few of the Indians had fire-arms, which is the first 
account we have of their use by the natives. 

This encounter virtually closed the war. Sassacus, the 
great sachem, whose name but a few months before had 
been a terror to both whites and Indians in New En"- 
land, was murdered, with twenty of his men, by the Mo- 
hegans, to whom he fled for shelter, and a part of his skin with 
a lock of his hair w^as sent as a welcome present to Bos- 
ton. The Massachusetts troops returned home with only •^'^S 
the loss of one man. The Pequots now became a prey to 
their savas-e foes and were hunted down like wolves, the 



96 HISTOKY OF THE STATE OF RHOPE ISLAND. 

allied ludiuns daily bringing in their heads or hands to the 
English. A general thanksgiving was observed through- 
out New England for the sucicessful termination of the 
war. The miserable remnant of the tribe delivered them- 
selves u}) at Hartford on condition that their lives should 
be spared. More than eight hundred had been slain in the 
Avar, and less than two hundred remained to share the 
fate of cai^tives. These w^ere distributed among the Nar- 
lf;3,t. raganscts and Mohegans, wdth the pledge that they 
Sept. should no more be called Pequots, nor inhabit their na- 

02. . ... 

tive country again.' To make tb^ annihilation of the race 
yet more complete, their very name was extinguished in 
Connecticut by legislative act. Pequot river was called 
the Thames, Pequot town was named New London. 

Thus perished the race and name of the Pequots. 
The first aboriginal tribe who defied the English power, 
had fallen in the desperate struggle for liberty and life. 
In their fate they were but the precursors of a long line 
of Indian races who were, one after another, to disappear 
as the gathering tide of European civilization swept on- 
ward to the west. In quick succession from the Atlantic 
to the Alleghanies, and thence to the Mississippi, the 
native tribes have melted away ; and westward still, from 
the river to the Eocky Mountains, the fatal tide flows 
swiftly on, driving before it the few whom it does not 
slay. Already it breaks in narrow streams through those 
mountain passes, until the far west is no longer the un- 
disturbed home of the red man. A few years more will 
see the fixte of the Pequots repeated on our w^estern 
shores ; the great tragedy of New England will be re- 
acted on the hills of Oregon ; the " notes of the last 
aboriginal death song shall mingle with the murmur of 
the Pacific." 

' Trunibull's Hist, of Comiecticiit, vi. pji. 02, 93, Rook 1, cli. v. 



COMPANIONS OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 97 



CHAPTER IV. 

HISTORY OF PROVIDENCE FROM ITS SETTLEMENT, 1636, TO THE 
ORGANIZATION OF THE GOVERNMENT UNDER THE PARLIA- 
MENTARY CHARTER, MAY, 164T. 

The original companions of Roger Williams, by his 
own account, were four in number, William Harris, John 
Smith, Francis Wickes, and a lad whom tradition asserts ' '" ' 
to be Thomas Angel. ' By a letter from Joshua Verin, 
on the town records, it appears that he also accompanied 
the above named persons to Providence, as he speaks of 
" we six which came first." This apparent discrepancy is 
readily explained. The four persons named by Williams 
probably joined him in his first planting at Seekonk, 
while Verin came later but in season to remove with 
them across the river, and thus to become one of tlic six 
original settlers of Providence. 

That it was not the intention of Eoger Williams, in 
seeking a refuge in tlie wilderness, to become the founder 
of a State, his own declaration proves. Driven from the 
society of civilized men, who showed little sympathy with 
the enlightened and progressive views that placed him so 

' " My soul's desire was to do the natives good, and to that end to have their 
language, (which I afterwards printed,) and therefore desired not to be trou- 
bled with English company, yet out of pity I gave leave to William Harris, 
then poor and destitute, to come along in my company. I consented to John 
Smith, miller at Dorchester, (banished, also,) to go with me, and at John 
Smith's desire, to a poor young fellow, Francis Wickes, as also to a lad of 
liichard Waterman's. These are all I remember." — R. Williams' Answer to 
W. Harris before the Court of Commissioners, 17th A^ov., 1()77. 



98 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, fill' ill advance of his age, liis earnest, toiling spirit, souglit 
^)j^ among the savages a field of action, and their dehased 
1 3 G. condition presented a fitting object for his philanthropy. 
Had his only motive been to escape from the vexations of 
a discordant community he would have refused, even 
against the plea of pity, all English companionship, and, 
like Blackstone, ' who at the quiet retreat of Study Hill, 
had 2)receded him to Rhode Island, would have found, in 
communion with nature in her solitude, that rest which 
human fellowsliip denied. But the Supreme Ruler of 
events had ordered otherwise. The missionary spirit 
which led AVilliams to devote his energies to the good of 
the Indians, gave him that hold upon their affection and 
esteem which enabled him to dwell securely among them, 
and to acquire that ascendency in their councils which 
afterwards made him the averter of war, and the virtual 
protector of New England. The humanity of his disposi- 

' There i» a mystery in tlie life of Wm. Blaekstoiie wliicli probably can 
never be explained. When and how he came to America is imkuown. The 
tlrst planters of Massachusetts Buy found him already established, the ear- 
liest English settler on the peninsula of Shawnmt, now Boston, M'here he 
planted an orchard, the first in Massaclmsetts. He was a clergyman of the 
church of England, and no doubt left his native country on account of non- 
conformity, the same reason that led him soon after to seek a home for the 
second time in the Avilderiiess, when he ii.sed this memorable expression : " I 
left England to get from under the power of the lord bishops, but in America 
I am fallen under the power of the lord brethren." At his suggestion the 
larger portion of the colonists of 1G30, who had settled at Charlestown, re- 
moved to Boston. In IGol he sold out his title to Shawmut, each inhabitant 
paying him sixpence, and some of them more, and, purchasing cattle, re- 
moved soon after to a spot named by him " Study Hill," within what is known 
as " the Attleboro' Gore," in riymoiith patent, now in tlie south part of the 
town of Cumberland, II. I., near the banks of the Pawtuckct river. He thus 
became the first settler of Rhode Island, if we except the three English re- 
i'erred to in Winthrop's Journal, (1, 72) as occupying a house at Sowamset, 
now Warren, which was attacked by Indians in April, 1032, and as this seems 
to have been but a temporary trading post, such as were frecpiencly set up ir 
the Indian country, and not a permanent settlement, such as Blackstone's vias, 
no other reference being anywhere made to it, the honor here claimed prop- 
erly belongs to the proprietor of Study Hill. At the time of his removal he 
is supposed to have resided at Shawmut about ten years. Lechfoi'd says, 



EARLY TITLE DEEDS OF PROVIDENCE. 99 

tioii prompted liim so far to vary his exclusive design in chap. 
favor of the Indians, out of pity to those who had like- ^^^ 
wise suifered persecution in Massachusetts, that, contrary 16 3 6. 
to his own desire, he brought with him a small hut reso- 
lute hand of immigrants and thereby formed the nucleus 
of a State. These were soon joined hy others, but at 
what precise time or in what numbers it is now impos- 
sible to know. Many of the records were lost, probably 
in the burning of the town during Philip's war, and those 
which are still preserved were but imperfectly kept. 1637-8. 

The earliest deed upon record is in the form of a 2^, 
memorandum dated the twenty-fourth of March in the 
second year of the plantation. It refers to a sale made 
two years previous, of the lands upon Mooshausick and 
Wanasquatucket rivers, by Canonicus and Miantinomi 
to Eoger Williams, confirming the same, and by its 
terms extending the grant on either side so as to include 

'• One Master Blackstoiie, a minister, went from P>oston, having lived there 
nine or ten years, because he would not join with the church ; he lives near 
IVIaster Williams, but is far from his opinions," p. 42 — Plaine Dealing, London, 
IG-tl. He lived peacefully at his new plantation the remainder of his days. 
Here he planted au apple orchard, the first that ever bore fruit in Rhode 
Island. " He had the first of that sort called yellow sweetings that were ever 
in the world perhaps, the richest and most delicious apple of the whole kind." 
(2 M. H. C. ix. 17-4.) Many of his trees planted one hundred and thirty years 
before were still in bearing when Gov. Hopkins wrote in 176.5, and Mr. New- 
man in his Discourse on 4th July, 1855, before the Blackstone Monument 
Association, says that as late as 1830 three of these trees were living, and 
two of them bore apples. They were then nearly two centuries old ! He 
frequently came to Providence to preach the Gospel, " and to encourage his 
younger hearers gave them the first apples they ever saw." When no longer 
able to travel on foot he rode on a bull that he had broken to the saddle. 
His wife, Mrs. Sarah Blackstone, died in June, 1G73. His own death oc- 
curred May 26th, 1675, at an advanced age, having resided probably more 
than fifty years in New England. He was spared from witnessing the deso- 
lation of his place, and the burning of his house and library by the Indians 
in Philip's war, which broke out a few days after his decease. He left but 
one child, John, for whom guardians were ajpoiuted by Plymouth govern- 
ment in 1675. His family is now extinct. An inventory of his estate, taken 
ten days after his death, is contained in 2 M. H. C. x. 172. The name was 
originally spelt Blaxtou. 



1>. 



100 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, all the land between Pawtucket and Pawtuxet rivers, 

IV • 

__,J^ with the grass and meadows upon the latter stream. This 

1637-8. extended grant is made " in consideration of the many 
kindnesses and services he hath continually done for us," 
and the instrument is signed by the original grantors. 
^ ^ A memorandum appended the following year states that 
May this was all again confirmed by Miantinomi, " up the 
streams of Pawtucket and Pawtuxet without limits we 
might have for the use of our cattle." By this document 
it appears that the sole title to all the lands vested in 
Koger Williams. AVhen years afterwards a bitter dis- 
pute arose among the settlers, in which the opponents of 
Williams denied his exclusive original title to the lauds, 
he wrote, " they were mine own as truly as any man's 
coat upon his back," Nor was it true, as alleged, that 
tlie purchase was made by him as agent of the company. 
The sources of his ability to treat with the Indians, and 
the reasons of his having any companions at all in his set- 
tlement, as above recited, are sufiicient proof, ajiart from 
his own positive statements, that his assertion upon these 
points is correct. But it was not his intention to secure 
to himself the exclusive advantage which his position 
afforded him. Soon after the purchase he executed a 
deed giving an equal share with himself to twelve of his 
companions " and such others as the major part of us 
shall admit into the same fellowship of vote with us." It 
was a simple memorandum, like the first Indian deed, 
witliout date, and kuow^n as the ^" initial deed," from its 
containing simply the initials of the grantees. These 
were Stukely W^estcott, William Arnold, Thomas James, 
Piobert Cole, John Greene, John Tlirockmorton, William 
Harris, William Carpenter, Thomas Olnoy, Francis Wes- 
ton, Kichard Waterman, Ezekiel Holyman, who, with 
Eoger Williams, the grantor, form the thirteen original 
proprietors of Providence. 

This remained for more than tw^enty years the only 



DIVISIONS OF LAND. 101 

evidence of title jiossessed by the town, until Dec., 1661, chap. 
when Mr. Williams executed a more formal conveyance ^■ 
by request of the citizens, and five years later he exe- 16 3 7. 
cuted still another deed, being an exact transcript of the 
" initial deed," except that the names of the grantees 
were given in full, and the instrument was dated the 8th 
of 8th month, 1638, to conform as nearly as possible with 
the time the original was given. The sole object of this 
instrument appears to be to exj^lain the first one as to 
date and names. ' It will be observed that only two of 
the original settlers appear as proprietors by this deed. 
Of the remaining four, two at least were minors, one, Ve- 
rin, had already abandoned the settlement and returned 
to Massachusetts, while the non-appearance of John 
Smith, the miller, as a copartner in the deed, is not easily 
explained. Some of the grantees it is known did not 
leave Massachusetts until 1638. But all of them, the 
six settlers and thirteen proprietors, being seventeen per- 
sons, had lots assigned them, together with many others, 
fifty-four in all, in the first . division of land which took 
place soon after the " initial deed " was accepted. The 
proprietors divided the lands into two parts, one called Oct. 
" the grand purchase of Providence," the other " the 
Pawtuxet purchase." In the first of these divisions fifty- 
four names appear as the owners of " home lots," as they 
were called, extending from " the town street," now 
North and South Main streets, eastward to Hope street, 
beside which each person had a six acre lot assigned to 
him in other parts of the purchase, some on the banks of 
the Seekonk, where Koger Williams' out lot w^as located, 
at Whatcheer, the farthest north of all, and some on the 
Wanasquatucket river. '^ The division known as the " Paw- 
tuxet purchase," which from the beauty of its meadow 

• See Staple's Annals of Providence, pp. 26, 28, 30, 3.3, for tlicse deeds. 

■^ The grantees were prohibited from selling to any but an inhabitant 
without consent of the town, and a penalty was imposed upon such as did 
not improve their grounds. 



102 HISTORY. OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, lands soon Les-an to be settled/ was the source of lonsr 

IV . . 

_„,J_, and angry contention in the subsequent history of the 

16 3 8. colony, as will hereafter appear,^ 

The government established by these primitive settlers 
of Providence was an anomaly in the history of the world. 
At the outset it was a j)ure democracy, which for the first 
time guarded jealously the rights of conscience by igno- 
ring any power in the body politic to interfere with those 
matters that alone concern man and his Maker. The in- 

1 G 3 7. habitants, " masters of families," incorporated themselves 
into a town and made an order that no man should be 
molested for his conscience. As yet there was no dele- 
gated power. The little community had not swelled to 
the dimensions that required a division of labor in the 
conduct of pubHc affiiirs. The people met monthly in 
town meeting, and chose a cleric and treasurer at each 
meeting. It is mucli to be regretted that the records of 
tlie town were so loosely kept.' An experiment like this, 
which had no precedent to furnish in doubtful cases a cri- 
terion of action, must have often presented questions of 
the deepest importance to the colonists, in the decision of 
which there could be no other guide than their own clear 
minds. Principle, not precedent, formed their only stand- 

' The first settlers of P.iwtuxct were Wm. Arnold, Wm. Carpenter, Zecli- 
ai-iah Rhodes and Wm. Ilarris, who removed from Providence in 1638. 

" The details of the various divisions of land in the town and vicmity, and 
the localities assigned to individual proprietors, so far as they can now be as- 
certained, are given in Judge Staple's Annals of Providence, and are not re- 
peated here hecause they belong more properly to a local history of the town, 
whicb has already been most diligently prepared in the aforenainod book, 
than to a general history of the State. 

^ The only officer whose election is recorded is Thomas Olney, Treasurer. 
The earliest record is dated 16th of 4th mo., (June,) but without year. It 
provides for a fine upon all persons who may be more than fifteen minutes 
late at town-meeting, and but three other entries are made imder that year, 
the last of which, dated 3d of 10th month, is but a repetition of the first mem- 
orandum. The next page is headed " Agreements and Orders of the 2d year 
of the Plantation," under which but seven entries are made, all relating to 
grants of land and preservation of timber, and but three have a date affixed. 



THE CIVIL COMPACT. 103 

arcl of judgment. Could the record of their proceedings chap. 
have been preserved, with what interest should we now ^^^^ 
peruse the debates of this earliest of modern democracies ! 10 3 7. 
The first written compact that has come down to us is as 
follows : " We whose names are hereunder, desirous to 
inhabit in the town of Providence, do promise to subject 
ourselves in active or passive obedience to all such orders 
or agreements as shall be made for public good of the 
body, in an orderly way, by the major assent of the pres- 
ent inhabitants, masters of families, incorporated together 
into a town fellowship, and such others whom they shall 
admit unto them, only in civil things." It is signed by 
thirteen persons — Richard Scott, William x Reynolds, 
John X Field, Chad. Brown, John Warner, George Rick- 
ard, Edward Cope, Thomas x Angell, Thomas x Harris, 
Francis x Wickes, Benedict Arnold, Joshua Winsor, 
William Wickenden. The five with the mark x affixed, 
signed by their mark, but whether through inability to 
write their names, or from some other cause, may be ques- 
tioned, as we know that at that period instruments having 
more than one signature were often thus signed by some 
of the parties who knew how to write. This agreement 
is without date on the original record. It refers in terms 
to an agreement between the first settlers and to their in- 
corporation into a town fellowship, and is therefore pre- 
sumed to be the agreement of the " second comers " — a 
view strengthened by the fact that it is signed by T. An- 
gell and F. Wickes, who came with R. Williams, but be- 
ing, according to tradition, minors, were not named in 
Mr. Williams' deed, and now, having attained their ma- 
jority, they take this occasion to sign the compact of cit- 
izenship. The parties bind themselves " only in civil 
things," thus securing the rights of conscience inviolate 
as their predecessors had done. The difterent and often 
conflicting views of the members of this infant State upon 
the exciting topics which caused their exile, and the un- 



104 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

tried principles upon which their settlement was made, 
would afford a curious example of diversity of thought 
and action converging to the same great end. Unfortu- 
nately our only authorities upon these subjects are the 
scattered and often biassed statements from the chronicles 
of Massachusetts. The fliirest of these annalists has 
preserved a fragment of discussion, so curious as an illus- 
tration of the nature of the difficulties which must have 
been constantly arising in the colony, and of the shrewd, 
])ractical character of the people in their solution of knotty 
({uestions, that we transcribe it. " At Providence, also, 
the devil was not idle. For whereas at their first coming 
thither, Mr. Williams and the rest did make an order 
that no man should be molested for his conscience, now 
men's wives, and children, and servants, claiming liberty 
hereby to go to all religious meetings, though never so 
often, or though private, wpon the week days ; and be- 
cause one Verin refused to let liis wife go to Mr. Wil- 
liams' so often as she was called for, they required to have 
him censured. But there stood up one Arnold, a witty 
man of their own company, and withstood it, telling them 
that, when he consented to that order, he never intended 
it should extend to the breach of any ordinance of God, 
such as the subjection of wives to their husbands, etc., 
and gave divers solid reasons against it. Then one 
Greene replied that if they should restrain their wives, 
etc., all the women in the country would cry out of them, 
etc. Arnold answered him thus : Did you jiretend to 
leave the Massachusetts because you would not offend 
God to please men, and would you now break an ordi- 
nance and commandment of God to please women ? 
Some were of 02)inion that if Verin would not suffer his 
wife to have her liberty, the church should dispose her to 
some other man who would use her better. Arnold told 
them that it was not the woman's desire to go so oft from 
home, but only Mr. Williams' and others. In conclusion, 



THE VERIN CASE. 105 

when tliey would liave censured Verin, Arnold told tliem chap. 
that it was against their own order, for Verin did that he .^^'^..^ 
did out of conscience ; and their order was that no man 16 3 7. 
should he censured for his conscience." This then is the 
earliest record we have of the struggle between liberty 
and law, the rival elements which Rhode Island was to 
reconcile in the novel experiment of a self-governed State. 
The only entry referring to it upon the town books is in Maj 
these words : " It was agreed that Joshua Verin, upon ^ ' 
the breach of a covenant for restraining of the libertie of 
conscience, shall be withheld from the libertie of voting 
till he shall declare the contrarie." Here was a case in- 
volving the cardinal principle of the Ehode Island settlers 
with the most delicate subject of family regulation. One 
of greater difficulty could not well be imagined. On the 
supposition that Mrs. Verin felt bound in conscience to 
attend the meetings, and did so Avithout detriment to her 
domestic duties, the restraint imposed by her husband was 
a violation of the Rhode Island principle, and as such 
the punishment was correctly administered, although the 
report, as given by Winthrop, doubtless derived from 
Verin himself, naturally gives the best of the argument 
to the latter. 

About this time Mr. Williams, jointly with Gov. Win- N^ov. 
throp, purchased of Canonicus the island of Chibachu- 
weset, which had formerly been offered by the Indians to 
John Oldham, on condition that he would settle there for 
purposes of trade, which he failed to do. This he named 
Prudence, and two smaller islands adjacent, which he soon 
after purchased, he called Patience and Hope. These 
lands, with other property, he afterwards sold to meet his 
expenses in England when on service for the colony. 
Gov. AVinthrop retained his half of Prudence island, and 
left it in his will to his son Stephen.' 

1 3 M. H C. i. 165. Knowlcs' R. W. 124. The deed of Prudence island 
is dated 10th Nov. R. I. H. C. Hi. 29. Williams' letter to Gov, Winthrop 
on the subject is dated Oct. 28th. 



10. 



Auo-. 



106 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

Tlie annals of crime liave rarely contained a more 
atrocious murder than was committed near Providence, 
10 3 8. upon the person of an Indian, by four English from Ply- 
mouth in the following summer. The murderers were 
taken at Aquidneck, and Mr. Williams, writing to Gov. 
Winthrop for advice as to where they should be tried, 
gives tlie particulars of the tragedy.' One escaped. The 
remaining three were sent to Plymouth, tried and exe- 
cuted. The chief interest of the affair at this day relates 
to the question of jurisdiction, and to the diverse reasons 
assigned for having the trial at Plymouth. Williams 
thought they should be tried at Aquidneck, where they 
were taken, and if not they should l)e sent to Plymouth, 
where they belonged. The Aquidneck settlers desired to 
send them to Providence, where the crime was commit- 
ted, and this certainly was the correct view. Gov. V/in- 
tliro}) advised that they be delivered to Plymouth if sent 
for, otherwise that the ringleader be given up to the In- 
dians, and the other three be detained till further consid- 
eration, and gives as his reasons that there was no English 
jurisdiction where the crime was committed, and no gov- 
ernment at the island where the criminals were arrested.*^ 
Plymouth also applied to Massachusetts for advice, and 
the Secretary assigns opposite reasons from those given 
by Gov. Winthrop himself for his advice, and very dif- 
ferent ones from any that could have influenced the 
Aquidneck people in surrendering the prisoners. He says 
the Massachusetts refused to try them because the crime 
was committed within the jurisdiction of Plymouth, and 
that the Rhode Island men having taken them, delivered 
them to Plymouth " on the same grounds."^' 

The birth of Mr. Williams' eldest son, said to be the 
first male child born of English parents in Rhode Island, 
took place in the autumn of this year. He was named 

^ 3 M. H. C. iii. 170-3. " Wiutlirop's Journal, i. 2C7. 

^ Morton's Memorial, p. 208. 



THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH. 107 

Providence. The first English child born in the colony 
was a female, in the same year, but a few months pre- 
vious to the birth of Providence Williams. 16 3 8. 

The period had now arrived when a church was to be 
organized in the new plantations. That religious services 
had not previously been neglected in their exile, we may 
fairly infer from the character of the people and the ear- 
nest nature of their leader, himself an ordained preacher 
of the Gospel, as also was Thomas James, another of the 
original proprietors. And we know too that Mr. Black- 
stone, also a regular minister, residing within six miles of 
Providence, was in the habit of visiting the settlement 
for this purpose. As the views entertained by the Provi- 
dence colonists differed so widely from those of their Pu- 
ritan brethren in other respects, a similar variance may 
be looked for in their religious belief ; and as they had 
instituted a civil government on principles entirely novel 
in that age, so were they about to establish an ecclesias- 
tical system, approaching, more nearly, as they consider- 
ed, to that of the primitive church, than any then exist- 
ing in the new world. Gov. Winthrop says : " Many of 
Boston and others, who were of Mrs. Hutchinson's judg- 
ment and party, removed to the isle of Aquiday ; and , 
others, who were of the rigid separation, and savored 3." 
anabaptism, removed to Providence, so as those parts be- 
gan to be well peopled." Some time between this date ^]Jarcii 
and the following spring, when the account of the bap- Ifi. 
tism of Williams, Holliman and ten others, is recorded 
by Winthrop, the event then related occurred, which 
places the formation of the first Baptist church in Amer- 
ica probably in the autumn of 1638, and certainly prior ; 
to the 16th of March, 1639.- 

^ These twelve were Roger Williams, Ezekiel Holliinaia, William Arnold, 
William Harris, Stuliely Westcott, John Green, Richard Waterman, Thomas 
James, Robert Cole, WilUam Carpenter, Francis Weston and Thomas OIney. 
— Benedicts History of Baptists, i. 473. 

- An interestins; discussion occurred a few years since between the First 



108 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND, 

CHAP. The growth of the colony soon rendered a, purely 

^^J^ democratic government hnpracticable. Too onerous for 
1 G 4 0. the individual and too feeble for the purjioses of the State, 
it was reluctantly and cautiously abandoned. The jeal- 
ousy of delegated j^ower is conspicuous in the instrument 
that authorized it, as well as in the frequent elections by 
which it provided for a choice of the " disposers." The 
necessity of some change was apparent, and a committee 
was appointed by the inhabitants of Providence to con- 
sider certain difficulties that had arisen in regard to a di- 
vision of the lands, to adjust the same, and to report a 
form of future government for the action of the town. 
This report, consisting of twelve articles of agreement, 
."j^ was accepted by the people, thirty-nine of whose signa- 
tures arc attached to the only copy in existence, certified 
by the tov»^n clerk twenty-two years later.' It was but a 
slight departure from the primitive democracy, still it 

Baptist ('!lrarclies of Providence ami Newport, tlie latter claiming seniority, 
contrary to received opinions and the records of the Warren Association. A 
report to the Association was made in IS-tO, stating the grounds of the New- 
port claim. This report was ably refuted by the Rev. Drs. Granger and Cas- 
well and Prof Gammell, a committee in behalf of the Providence church, 
and their review presented to the Warren Association at its next annual meet- 
ing, Sept. 12th, 1850, and printed in pamphlet form soon after. In Novem- 
ber of the same year. Rev. S. Adlam, pastor of the Newport church, published a 
pamphlet entitled, " The First Baptist Church in Providence Not the oldest of 
the Baptists in America." This is a very ingenious attempt to show, 1st, That 
the present First Baptist Church is not the original chui-ch referred to in the 
text, but a seceder from an older church. I'd, That this older church disap- 
peared about 1718, and 3d, That the Newport church is older than either of them. 
Tlie last proposition, at least, proves too much, for Winthrop settles the fact 
of the formation of a Baptist clrarch at Providence prior to 16th March, 1G39, 
while the town of Newport was not founded till May 1st, six weeks after- 
ward. Many of the facts rehed on to siistain these positions will be found to 
be already answered iu the committee's Review, and the additional statements 
are well iveighed by Rev. Henry Jackson, D. D., in " Churches in Rhode 
Island," pp. 15-22, 79-85, 95 and 122, 23. Mr. Adlam's pami^hlet is a fine 
specimen of historical reasoning, requiring an intimate knowledge of the 
times and subject, and some experience in critical analysis, to detect the er- 
rors in its premises and the consequent fallacy of its conclusions. 
' Staple's Annals, p. 40-3. 



FOEM OF GOVERNMENT ALTERED. 109 

forms ail era in our colonial history, and for several years chap. 
constituted the town government. ^^" 

The first article fixes the bounds between Pawtuxet i ^^ 4 <^>- 
proprietors and those of Providence. The second pre- 
scribes that five men be appointed by the town to dispose 
of the common lands, and to do the general business of 
the town, but in receiving freemen they are first to notify 
the inhabitants, lest any objections should exist against 
the applicant. If any one felt aggrieved by the action 
of the " disposers," he could appeal to the town meeting. 
A town clerk was to be chosen in addition to these five i 
selectmen, and the guaranty of liberty of conscience is 
again expressly given. The next two articles provide for 
the settlement of all private difficulties by arbitration, 
and empowered the five disposers to appoint arbitrators 
when either of the disputants refuses to do so. The fifth 
requires all the inhabitants to unite in pursuit of any de- 
linquent. Tlie sixth enables any party, aggrieved by the 
acts of any one of the " disposers," to call a town meet- 
ing, in case of an emergency. By the seventh article all 
land conveyances from the town were to be made by the 
five selectmen. The next two articles provide for monthly 
meetings of the selectmen or " disposers," and quarterly 
meetings of the town, at which the former were to render 
their accounts and a new election to be had. The fees of 
the clerk and his term of office, to be one year, are the 
subjects of the tenth article. The eleventh quiets all 
prior land titles. The last article levies a tax of thirty 
shillings upon all inhabitants of the town. 

The provisions for elections, and for a revision of the 
acts of the " disposers " at quarterly town meetings, and 
for extra town meetings in the brief intervals, to redress 
any private grievance inflicted by the selectmen, or any 
one of them, are remarkable proofs of the tenacity with 
which the founders of Providence held in their own hands 
the reins of delegated power. The largest liberty of the 



110 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

citizen, civil as well as religious, consistent with tlie exist- 
ence of society, Avas their cherished object, and one which 

10 40. they protected with the jealousy of men escajjed from the 
tyranny of a church and state combination. But the 
element of strength which it was sought to embody in the 
new system was not there. The passions of men were 
not restrained, and the crude ideas of many who sought 
the new colony as a refuge from oppression, were not defi- 
nitely shaped by this new agreement. Latitude of opin- 
ion upon fundamental points of civil government still 

jj.^j existed. Theories subversive of all legal restraint were 
broached, and although the angry discussions which they 
produced resulted in the triumph of social order, they 
gave occasion for the calumny that " at Providence they 
denied all magistracy and churches." The doctrine that 
conscience was to be the sole guide of the individual, in 
civil as well as in religious matters, was held by some who 
did not see clearly the distinction as it existed in the 
mind of Roger Williams. In the neighboring colonies 
these perversions of the idea of soul liberty were magni- 
fied, and the disorder that threatened during the discus- 
sions, which finally ended in the united triumph of reli- 
gious liberty, and social law, was misrepresented as the re- 
sult of the established system in the State. Any attempt 
to enforce the laws was attended wdth danger to the exist- 
ence of the settlement, so much so, that on several occa- 
sions aid from abroad was solicited to sustain the deci- 

^T^^^. sions of arbitrators legally appointed, in accordance with 
17 the new form of government. The earliest instance of 
this impolitic action is found in a letter from tiiirteen of 
the colonists addressed to the Massachusetts, complaining 
of the conduct of Gorton and his partisans, one of whom, 
Francis Weston, liad refused to submit to the " arbitra- 
tion of eight men orderly chosen." To enforce their de- 
cree a levy was made on Weston's cattle. A riot ensued, 
in which some blood was spilt and a rescue eftected by his 



PAWTUXET MEN SUBMIT TO MASSACHUSETTS. Ill 

friends, wlio then openly declared tliat a similar resnlt chap. 
should follow any attempt to attach any property of theirs. _,J_, 
The writers urge the necessity of the case as the reason 16 41. 
for their ashing assistance and advice. In reply the gov- 
ernment of Massachusetts declined to send aid, hecause 
they " could not levy any war without a general Court ; " 
and " for counsel, that except they did suhmit themselves 
to some jurisdiction, either Plymouth, or ours, we had no 
calling or warrant to interpose in their contentions, but if 
they were once sulrject to any, then they had a calling to 
protect them.'' How such a submission by any inhabit- 
ants of Ehode Island could operate to extend the Massa- 
chusetts charter beyond its prescribed limits, or, if it 
could do so, how any of the people could invite such a 
usurpation we cannot understand. 

A few months after this affair four of the principal 1C42. 
inhabitants, then resident at Pawtuxet, dissatisfied with ' y^ ' 
the conduct of Gorton and his company, who had moved 
to their neighborhood, offered themselves and their lands 
to the government and protection of Massachusetts, and 
were received by the General Court. These were Wil- 
ham Arnold, Robert Cole, William Carpenter and Bene- 
dict Arnold. The first three were among the original 
purchasers. The last was the son of the first-named. 
They were appointed by the General Court as justices of 
the peace. ^ Thus a foreign jurisdiction was set up in the 
very midst of the infant colony, which greatly increased 
the difi&culties of its existence, and continued for sixteen 
years to harass the inhabitants of Providence, and threat- 
en the peace of Rhode Island long after the Parliamen- 
tary charter had secured to the people the right of self- 
government.'^ The motives of the Court in this act are 

' Mass. Col. Rec. 2, 27. 

- It was not till 1658 that this unnatural condition of things w.is termi- 
nated upon the petition of Wm. Arnold and Wm. Carpenter in helialf of them- 
selves and all the inhuhitants of Pawtuxet. asking for a full discharge of their 



112 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, stated by tlie Governor to be " partly to secure these men 
_3Z^ from unjust violence, and partly to draw in the rest in 
16 42. those parts, either under ourselves or Plymouth, who now 
lived under no government, but grew very offensive, and 
the place was likely to be of use to us, especially if we 
should have occasion of sending out against any Indians 
of Narraganset, and likewise for an outlet into the Nar- 
raganset Bay, and seeing it came without our seeking, and 
would be no charge to us, we thought it not wisdom to 

^'f't- let it sliix" In a few weeks a letter was addressed by 
28. . . . 

Massachusetts "" to our neighbors of Providence," inform- 
ing them of this submission of the Pawtuxet men, noti- 
fying them that the Courts were open for the trial of any 
complaints against these men, and accompanied with the 
assurance that equal justice should there be rendered, and 
with the threat that if violence were resorted to against 
them it would be repelled in like manner.^ This official 
demonstration of the grasping policy of Massachusetts 
alarmed the colonists, who naturally preferred their own 
system of arbitration to the decision of Courts in another, 
and as they had good reason to consider, a hostile juris- 
UU2-3. diction. Gorton and his companions, who, as the parties 
J "■ specially complained of, deemed this letter to be aimed 
directly at them, shortly removed beyond the limits of 
Providence, and purchasing from the Indians lands at 
Shawomet, south of Pawtuxet, commenced the settle- 
ment of Warwick. But the rest which they sought Avas 
denied them in their last retreat. The persecution of 
their enemies followed them to the homes which the 
heathen, in pity for their sufferings, had bestowed. A 
dark contrast between the kindness of the savages and 
the cruelty of their civilized brethren, is presented in the 
early history of the Warwick settlement. 

submission to the Massacliusetts jurlsliction, whifh was granted at the May 
session. M. C. R., v. 4, Part i., p. 333. 

' The letter is published in 2 R. I. II. Col., p. 53, and in Staple's Annals 
of Prov., p. 47. 



APPLICATION FOR A CHARTER. 113 

The three colonies now existing in Khode Ishind were 
independent of each other. They felt the necessity of 
union in case of an Indian war which constantly threat- 10 42. 
ened, and perhaps a still greater need of an authorized 
government, which should cause their rights to be re- 
spected hy their neighbors. As yet each settlement de- 
pended solely upon the consent of its inhabitants for the 
efficiency of its government, and this basis was not recog- 
nized by the Puritan colonies as valid. The only ties 
that bound them together were those of a common dan- 
ger from the Indians, the memory of sufferings endured 
in a common cause, and the peril to their existence as a 
State, which threatened all alike from the ambitious poli- 
cy of the surrounding colonies. To strengthen their po- 
sition at home, to fortify themselves against encroachments 
from abroad, and above all to secure the enjoyment of that 
liberty of conscience for which they had suffered so much 
and were destined to endure still more, they sought from 
the British Parliament a charter which should recognize 
their acts of self-government as legal, and invest with the 
sanction of authority the novel experiment they had com- 
menced. The movement was made by the colony at Sept. 
Acquedneck. Providence united in it, and Koger Wil- 
liams was selected as the agent. Early in the following 
summer he embarked at New York in a Dutch ship for 1 6 4 3. 
England, being compelled to this course by the refusal of 
Massachusetts to permit him to pass through their limits, 
or to take passage in one of their vessels. He arrived in 
the midst of the civil war. The King had already fled, 
and the Long Parliament ruled the realm of England. 
The administration of the colonies was intrusted to a 
committee, of which the Earl of Warwick was chairman, 
with the office and title of " Governor-in-Chicf and Lord 
High Admiral of the Colonies." His efforts with this "v^' 

committee resulted in obtainino; a charter uniting the 1613-4 

. March 

three Rhode Island colonies, as '' The Incorporation of 14 



114 IILSTOIIY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

Providence Plantations in the Narraganset Bay in New 
England,"' The arrival of Mr. Williams with this all- 

16 44. important docnment was the occasion of general rejoicing. 
By virtue of an official letter to the Massachusetts, which 
he brought with him,- he landed in Boston, and was al- 

^ lowed to proceed unmolested to his home. This letter 
17. however failed, in its chief object, to produce a relaxation 
of the stern policy of the Bay towards the founder of the 
" heretical colony." Hubbard, in his History of New 
England, says : " Upon the receipt of the said letter the 
Governor and Magistrates of the Massachusetts found, 
upon examination of their hearts, they saw no reason to 
condemn themselves for any former proceedings against 
Mr. Williams ; but for any offices of Christian love and 
duties of humanity, they were very willing to maintain a 
mutual correspondency with him. But as to his danger- 
ous principles of separation, unless he can be brought to 
lay them down, they see no reason why to concede to him, 
or any so persuaded, free hberty of ingress and egress, 
lest any of their people should be drawn away witli his 
erroneous opinions." 

He passed quietly through the unfriendly territory, 
whose peo})le he had already once preserved, and from 

' With respect to the exact date of this charter tliere is some difference 
of opinion, evidently caused hy the carelessness of transcribers. It is pub- 
lished in the 2d and 4tli vols, of R. I. H. Col., dated 17th March. The 3d 
R. I. H. Col., Hazard's State Papars, and 2 JI. H. C. vol. 0, print it with the 
date of 14th March. Various writers have followed each of thes3 authori- 
ties. The latter, however, is the correct date, as ably argued by the learned 
and accurate editor of Winthrop's Journal in a note, vol. ii., p. 23G, edit. 
1853. Tlie fact that the 17th March 1013-4 fell on Sunday, not a legal day 
of date, is of itself conclusive against that date. The writer, in the course 
of his investigations in the British State Paper Office at London, examined 
the official MS. charter there preserved. It bears date 11th March. This 
positive evidence, aside from the negative proof adduced by Mr. Savage, ap- 
pears to settle the question. The charter was signed on Thursday, 14th 
March, 1643-4. 

-' The letter is given in Winthrop, 2, 193 (236.) 



WILLIAMS' RETURN. 115 

whom he was destined shortly, for the second time, to chap 
avert the horrors of Indian war, and reached Providence vj:^ 
by the same route that eight years before he had iHirsiied, 16 44. 
a homeless wanderer, dependent on the kindness of the 
red man. His entry was like a triumphal march. Four- 
teen canoes, filled with the exulting population of Provi- 
dence, met him at Seekonk, and escorted him across the 
river^ while the air was rent with shouts of welcome. 
How the contrast which a few short years had wrought in 
all around him must have pressed upon his mind, and 
more than all the feeling that the five companions of his 
exile, and those who had followed them, were now raised, 
by the charter he had brought, from the condition of de- 
spised and persecuted outcasts to the rank of an inde- 
pendent State ! 

Durino; the absence of Mr. Williams an event of great -, ^ , „ 
importance in its effect on the welfare of the colonists oc- 
curred. This w^as the murder of Miautinomi, the faith- 
ful ally of the English and the steadfast friend of Rhode 
Island. A union for mutual assistance, to which we shall 
refer more fully in the succeeding chapter, was formed by 

the other New Ens-land colonies, and from which the ,, 

May 
Rhode Island settlements were excluded, upon grounds that 19. 

reflect no credit upon the Puritan confederates. The 
prospect of Indian war was the most urgent cause for 
this union, and the exclusion of Rhode Island was a vir- 
tual abandonment of her inhabitants to the chances of 

savage warfare. A war broke out between Uncas, sachem -. , 
& ' -Inly 

of the Mohegans, and Sequasson, a sachem on the Con- 
necticut river, who was an ally of Miautinomi. Both 
parties appealed to the English, who declared their inten- 
tion to remain neutral. Miautinomi espoused the cause 
of his ally against Uncas, his hereditary foe, and applied 
to the Governor of Massachusetts, " to know if he would 
be offended if he made war upon Uncas ? " The Gov- 
ernor rephed, '• If Uncas had done him or his friends 



116 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, wrong and would not give satisfaction, we should leave 
^JZ^^ ^^^ to take his own course." That the high spirited sa- 
1C)43. chem of the Narragansets should have thus asked leave, 
as it were, to exercise the right of a sovereign Prince 
against his enemies, is explained hy the existence of a 
treaty formed six years before, when he aided the English 
to crush the Pequots. The whole career of this haughty 
chieftain, in his intercourse with the English, displays the 
nicest sentiment of honor, blended with a proper regard 
for his own dignity and absolute sovereignty. He re- 
garded every article of the treaty he had made as binding 
to the last hour of his hfe, not only in its terms but in 
its spirit, and expected, though unfortunately, and as it 
proved fatally to himself, to receive from his civilized al- 
lies an equally honorable conduct. He had been repeat- 
edly the guest of the authorities at Boston, and his de- 
portment on those occasions, as well as in his own domin- 
ions, when receiving embassies from the English, was such 
as to win the confidence and command the admiration of 
1G42. those with whom he negotiated. But of late suspicions 
^^"=?" had been excited in the mind of the General Court, by 
intelligence from Connecticut, sjjread, as it appears, by 
the intrigues of the Mohegans.' At a summons from the 
Sept. Court Miantinomi "promptly attended, and vindicated his 
innocence, demanding to be confronted with his accusers, 
and charging Uncas as the author of the calumny. The 
Court were satisfied and Miantinomi was honorably dis- 
missed. A fatal act of kindness soon afterward performed 
by him, in selling Shawomet to the arch heretic Gorton, 
seems to have inclined the Massachusetts more readily to 
entertain suspicions of their high-souled ally, and to have 
had no little wei2;lit in cau^inp; his death. However this 
jp.o may be, the leading events are well known. Uncas at- 
July. tacked Sequasson. Miantinomi took the field with one 
thousand warriors, and was defeated in a bloody action. 

■ An account of this plot is given in 3 M. H. C, 3, lGl-4. 



MURDER OF MIANTINOMI. 117 

By the treachery of two of his captains he was delivered chap. 
up to Uncas. An effort to obtain his ransom was made ^.^J^, 
by his subjects, and also by Gorton. Upon this Uncas 164 3. 
carried him to Hartford, where at his own entreaty he ' "' 
was left as a prisoner in the hands of the English, tiU the 
Commissioners of the United Colonies met at Boston. 

By them his fate was decided. They '' were aU of 
opinion that it would not be safe to set him at liberty, "^' 
neither had we sufficient ground for us to put him to 
death. In this difficulty we called in five of the most ju- 
dicious elders, and propounding the case to them, they all 
agreed that he ought to be put to death ; and we agreed 
that, upon the return of the commissioners to Hartford, 
they should send for Uncas and tell him our determina- 
tion, that Miantinomi should be delivered to him again, 
and he should put him to death so soon as he came within 
his own jurisdiction, and that two English should go 
along with him to see the execution, and that if any In- 
dians should invade him for it, we would send men to de- 
fend him." The sentence was executed in its sjnrit and 
letter by the savage Uncas.' Thus fell the most power- 
ful of the native princes, and the most faithful and hon- 
orable ally with whom the English had ever dealt. Un- 
skilled in theological subtleties, he received all alike, with 
a noble charity which might be called Christian, did it 
not contrast so strangely with the cruelty towards their 
brethren, of those who claimed the name and asserted the 
prerogative of the " Saints." Perhaps it was the igno- 

^ The particulars of tbis atrocious sacrifice are giveu by Trumbull, Hist, 
of Conn., i. 135. A justly severe criticism on the authors of the outrage is 
penned by Mr. Savage in a note on pp. 1.58-lGl, vol. ii., edit. 1853, of Wiii- 
throp's Journal. The scathing remarks of the editor, honorable alike to him- 
self and to humanity, come with a better grace from a Massachusetts man 
than any comments from a son of Rhode Island could do — who will fmd 
enough beside to denounce in the conduct of the Puritans towards his State, 
although nothing more needlessly cruel than the clerico-judicial murder here 
recorded. 



Sept. 



118 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, ranee of this barbarian upon points of abstract belief 
__^__, that made him so liberal a protector of " heresy." To 
16 4 3. him and to his imcle, the sage Canonicus, who survived 
him four years, Khode Island owes more than to all oth- 
ers, Christian or heathen, for the preservation of the lives 
of her founders. The immediate executioner of this re- 
morseless edict was rewarded for his fidelity. His abet- 
tors had reason afterwards to deplore their impolitic 
haste. 

While these events were taking place in the colonies, 
a yet more dangerous influence was at work in England 
to foil the efforts of Williams at obtaining the charter 
that was to establish the independence of Ehode Island. 
The Massachusetts government were attempting to an- 
nex, by a similar patent, the whole soil of Khode Island 
to their jurisdiction, and thereby to legalize their acts of 
^^^^- usurpation. The effort was so far successful that a char- 
ter was actually obtained from the Colonial Committee, 
adding to the patent of Massachusetts the wdiole of what 
is now the State of Ehode Island, and expressly including 
the Narraganset country, three months before the Ehode 
Island charter was granted. The reasons assigned for this 
act in the body of the instrument are the excessive charges 
to which the Massachusetts planters had been subjected 
in founding their colony, its rai)id growth, requiring an 
expansion of its territory, and the desire to Christianize 
the natives. By what nieans this patent was obtained, or 
how, so soon afterwards, the same territory was erected 
into an independent government, and no reference made 
to the previous grant to Massachusetts, although the 
boundaries are described in precisely the same language 
in the two documents, or yet why no allusion is made to 
it on the records of Massachusetts, for more than twenty 
months after it was granted, are points which cannot now 
be determined. It is worthy of remark that the Narra- 
ganset patent, as it was termed, provides a reservation of 



THE NABRAGANSET PATENT. ■ 119 

all lands previously granted, " and in present possession chap. 
held and enjoyed by any of His Majesty's Protestant sub- ^J^^ 
jects," while the Providence charter, dated three months 16 4 3 
later, contains no such proviso. In the Narraganset i)a- 
tent this proviso, so far as relates to lands " heretofore 
lawfully granted," is mere surplusage, no grants ever hav- 
ing been made within the described territory by the Brit- 
ish government, unless intended to secure the grantees 
under the original Plymouth company, who, as before 
stated, when about to throw up their charter, had made 
extensive sales within what they claimed as their pro- 
priety, among which was one to the Marquis of Hamil- 
ton, of the tract from Narraganset Bay to Connecticut 
river, including all the Narraganset country. But if this 
was the intention of the proviso, why was it not also em- 
bodied in the Providence charter ? The reservation has 
an important bearing, however, in its relation to those in 
actual possession, and could we disconnect the two por- 
tions of this clause of the proviso, it would explain much 
that now appears difficult ; for it would show that it was 
not the intention of the Colonial Committee to extend 
the Massachusetts authority over those who were ac- 
tual residents prior to the tenth of December, but only 
that the natural increase of the Massachusetts population, 
spreading into the granted territory, might carry with 
them the protection of their own laws. The omission of 
the proviso in the Providence charter strengthens this 
view. Mr. Williams had no doubt represented the actual 
relations between the Khode Island settlers and their 
neighbors, and his charter, being absolute and without 
reserve, intentionally cancelled that of December previous. 
The protracted silence of the Massachusetts government 
seems likewise to favor this view. The first notice that ^^uo^ 
appears of the existence of this document, is found in a 27. 
letter addressed to Mr. Williams at Providence, by order 
of the council, informing him that they had " lately " re- 



120 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

ceived this charter from England, warning him and oth- 
ers not to exercise jurisdiction there, or, otherwise, to ex- 

^Gio. hibit their authority for so doing at the General Court, 
and temporarily remitting, for that specific purpose, the 
decree of banishment.' It is not the least of the misfor- 
tunes resulting from the destruction of the Providence 
records in Phili})'s war, that we are ignorant what reply 
was made to this arrogant missive. 

Although the purchase of Providence from the Narra- 
ganset sachems was considered by the contracting parties 
as complete, the settlers were careful to conciliate the 
good-will of the Indians residing within their limits, or 
who claimed any sort of interest in the lands. Those 
who liad built wigwams or tilled the soil, received gratui- 
ties in addition to what had been paid to the sachems, 
and even the claim to sovereignty over a part of the land, 
asserted by Massasoit, sachem of the Wampanoags, a tribe 
subordinate to the Narragausets, several years after the 

1 G 4 6 I'^^i'clif^se, although unfounded, was virtually admitted, 

and compensation made to liim by the colonists. The 

claim embraced portions of what is now Smithfield, but 

it is doubtful whether the rights of the Wampanoags 

ever extended west of the Seekonk river. A committee, 

of which Koger Williams was the head, visited the sa- 

, , chera to treat for this pretended claim. The report of 
bept. ^ . , -^ . 

10. their negotiation presents a curious picture of Indian 

shrewdness and importunity. Many years elapsed before 
the last Indian titles were extinguished. Confirmatory 
deeds from the successors of the first grantors were taken, 
every new deed re^piiring some further gratuity. 

In their sales to each other the colonists pursued a 
plan which, however ill-adapted it might be to our pres- 
ent modes of doing business, had the advantages of brevity 
and publicity in a striking degree, and perhaps better pre- 

' TliG letter is printed in R. I. Col. Rec, i., 133, and in Mass. Col. Rec, 

iii., 10. 



GROWTH OF THE COLONY. 121 

eluded the possibility of fraud than any methods that have chap. 
since been adopted. The records for many years contain ,___,;^ 
simply the date of the transfer, the names of the grantor 1G4G. 
and grantee, and the location and bounds of the land. A 
dozen lines suffice to contain the whole transaction. No 
consideration is named, and no verbose reiteration of con- 
veyance amplify the deed to the tedious length of modern 
instruments. These transfers were made, or acknowl- 
edged, in open town meeting, and if the town approved 
the sale they voted to record the deed, which made the 
conveyance valid, but if they disapproved the whole was 
void. 

. The population of the colony rapidly increased; a 
natural effect of the broad system of religious freedom es- 
tablished by its founder, which made it the refuge of 
many who differed from the state creed of its neighbors. 
President Styles, in his diary, says that at this time there * 
were in Providence and its vicinity one hundred and one 
men fit to bear arms. This corresponds precisely to the 
whole number of proprietors of house lots, in the last 
division of the lands made seventy-three years later. But 
besides the original purchasers, and those who were ad- 
mitted by them to an equal share in the franchise, many 
were received as townsmen who had no interest in the 
lands, and others were admitted as twenty-five acre or 
quarter-right purchasers, who in all subdivisions of land ^■^^^■^^ 
received one-quarter as much as a full proprietor. The 19. 
terms of admission to the propriety varied very much at 
different times. The latest agreement upon the records 
is signed by twenty-eight quarter-right proprietors, who, 
having received a free grant of twenty-five acres each and 
a proportionate right of common, promise to obey the 
laws, and not to claim any right to the purchase, nor any 
privilege of vote, until they shall be received as freemen 
of the town.' 

' Staple's Auuals, GO. 



122 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP. Witli SO thrifty a growth and with a similar increase 

^__^_, in the other settlements, it is difficult to understand why 
164 6. a united government was not organized immediately upon 
receijit of the charter from England. Yet more than two 
and a half years elapsed before this event occurred. The 
patent prescribed no form of government, nor any mode 
of organization. All was left to the people, with the full- 
est powers to adopt and act under it as they pleased. It 
was a task as delicate and difficult as it was im^^erative 
to consolidate the towns. A sj^irit of compromise and 
mutual concession was requisite for the work. Although 
the same causes had led to these settlements, they were 
independent of each other in every respect, managing 
their affairs in their own town meetings, and conducting 
for themselves, as best they could, their disputes with the 
Puritan colonies. This very independence must have 
presented obstacles, which local or jjcrsonal jealousies 
would enhance. The distracted condition of the mother 
country extended in some measure to the colonies, where 
parties for the King and for the Parliament existed, al- 
though with less violence than in England, and both par- 
ties would fear the effect upon their charter liberties, in 
case of the victory of either. These reasons may acconnt 
for the delay which otherwise would appear inexplicable. 
The news of the Narraganset patent doubtless had an 
immediate influence in hastening the consolidation so es- 
sential to their preservation and to the maintenance of 
1 G 4 V. their cherished principles. At length all obstacles were 
so far removed that tlie four towns. Providence, Ports- 
1 mouth, Newport and Warwick ajDpointed committees to 
\ meet at Portsmouth on the eighteenth of May.^ A town 
meeting was held in Providence, at which Roger Williams 
May presided, and a committee of ten men were chosen for 
1*5- this purpose.'- The committee received full p.ower to act 

'- It appears by the records that the Assembly was lickl on the 19th, iiOtli 
and 21st. 

- These ■were Gregory Dexter, William Wiokcnden, Thomas Olney, Rob- 



INSTRUCTIONS TO THE COMMITTEE. 123 

for the town in arranging the Gen'eral Court, in choosing chap. 
general officers, and, in case the Court should consist of ^J^^J^ 
less than ten from each town, to select from themselves 16 4 7. 
this lesser number, to whom the same powers are given. 
They were instructed to obtain a copy of the charter, to 
signify their submission to the terms of the charter, and 
to such laws as might be adopted under it, to secure for 
the town the right to manage its own affairs, trials of 
causes and executions, except such as might be reserved 
for general trials, and to elect its own officers, and to see 
that the powers of general and local officers were clearly 
defined, to provide for appeals of causes to the General 
Court, and, in case charters of incorporation were given 
to the towns for the conduct of their local business, to 
procure one for Providence suited to promote the general 
peace or union of the colony, and securing the equal 
rights of the town in general affairs. The instructions 
close by wishing them " a comfortable voyage, a happy 
success and a safe return." Thus commissioned, the com- 
mittee, accompanied probably by a large proportion of the 
population of the town, embarked in canoes on their 
perilous " voyage." The result of their labors opens a 
new chapter in our Vv^ork, and commences the history of 
" The Incorporation of Providence Plantations in Narra- 
ganset Bay in New England." 

ert Williams, Ricliani Waterman, Roger Williams, William Fiekl, Johu 
Green, John Smith and John Lippitt. 



124 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 




24. 



CHAPTER V. 

HISTORY OF AQUEDNECK FROM ITS SETTLEMENT, MARCH, 1638, 
TO THE ORGANIZATION OF THE GOVERNMENT UNDER THE 
FIPuST CHARTER, MAY, 1G47. 

The civil compact formed at Providence and signed 
by nineteen ^ of tlie Aquedneck settlers was as follows : 
" The 7th day of the first month, 1G38. We whose names 
are underwritten do here solemnly, in the presence of 
Jehovah, incorporate ourselves into a Bodie Politick, and 
as he shall help, will submit our persons, lives and estates 
unto our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord 
of Lords, and to all those perfect and most absolute laws 
of his given us in his holy word of truth, to be guided 
and judged thereby. — Exod, xxiv., 3, 4 ; 2 Chron. xi., 3 ; 
2 Kings xi., 17." ^ 

The account of the purchase of the island, through 
the joint influence of Roger Williams and Sir Henry 
Vane, with tlie Narragansct sachems, has already been 
given. The Indian name of the place where the settle- 
ment was commenced, on the northeast part of the island, 

' These were Wm. Coddington, Jolm Clarke, Wm. Hutcliinson, John 
Coggeshall, Wm. Aspiuwall, Samuel Wilbore, John Porter, John Sanford, 
Ed. Hutchinson, jr., Thomas Savage, Wm. Dyre, Wm. Freeborne, Philip 
Shearman, John AV^alker, Richard Carder, Wm. Baulstoue, Ed. Hutchinson, 

sen., Henry Bull, — Randall Holden. Holden's name is separated from 

the others by a line. He is believed to be the one not concerned in the pur- 
chase, as his name and that of Roger Williams ai-e signed as witnesses to the 
deed. There were eighteen original proprietors and nineteen signers of the 
compact. See Bull's Memoirs of Rhode Island in R. I. Republican, 1832, 
AprO 17. 



THE AQUEDNECK SETTLERS. 125 

was Pocasset, and was retained for some time by the set- chap. 
tiers, until changed to Portsmouth. This name was .J^ 
equally applied by the Indians to the opposite shore on 1637-8. 
the main land, and probably was the name of the narrow 
strait between them, across which a ferry, now known as 
Rowland's ferry, was soon after established. The consid- 
eration paid for the fee of Aquedneck, and for the grass 
on the other islands, was forty fathoms of white peage, 
besides which ten coats and twenty hoes were given to 
the resident In(fians to vacate the lands, and five fathoms 
of wampum to the local sachem. The purchasers adopted 
the same pohcy as those of Providence towards the In- 
dians, giving gratuities to all who claimed any interest in ; 
the lands. Some of the luirchasers expressing dissatis- 
faction that the title stood in the name of William Cod- 
dington, in 1652 he executed a joint deed to them, as Mr. 
Williams had done for the same reason in Providence. 

Callender says that the Aquedneck settlers " were Pu- 
ritans of the highest form," and we know that their op- 
ponents in Massachusetts called the Antinomian doctrines 
" Calvinism run to seed." The peculiar phraseology of 
their civil compact verifies the remark of Callender. So 
prominent indeed is the religious character of this instru- 
ment that it has by some been considered, although erro- 
neously, as being itself " a church covenant, which also 
embodied a civil compact.'" Their plans were more ma- 
tured at the outset than those of the Providence settlers. 
To establish a colony independent of every other was their 
avowed intention, and the organization of a regular gov- 
ernment was their initial step. That their object was to 
lay the foundation of a Christian State, where all who 
bore the name might worship God according to the dic- 
tates of conscience, untrammelled by written articles of 
faith, and unawed by the civil power, is i:)roved by their 
declarations and by their subsequent conduct. The dif- 

' Minutes of tLe Warreu Baptist Association, 1849. 



126 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND, 

OHAP. ference between the Aquedneck settlers find the followers 
of Roger Williams upon this point was, that the latter 
did not confine his principles of toleration to men profess- 
ing Christianity, but allowed room for those of every faith, 
Jew or Gentile, Christian or Pagan. The views of Clarke 
and Coddington were very far in advance of the age, too 
far for the peace of the colony in its intercourse with the 
neighboring pro\'inces. The doctrine of " soul liberty," 
as established by Williams, went still farther, carrying his 
premises to their logical conclusion, and Itas come to be 
the recognized doctrine of the present age on this conti- 
nent. The distinction between the two, although having 
no practical efltect at that time, is important to be borne 
in mind, for it will explain some points in the later his- 
tory of the State which might otherwise appear inconsist- 
ent. The Aquedneck settlements for many years in- 
creasd more rapidly than those on the main land. The 
accessions appear to have been, for the most part, from a 
superior class in point of education and social standing, 
which for more than a century secured to them a control- 
ling influence in the colony. Many of the leading men 
were more imbued with the Puritan spirit, acrpiired by 
their longer residence in Massachusetts, which sympa- 
thized somewhat more with the law than with the liberty 
element in the embryo State,' The evidence of this is 
frequent, and its existence was very early displayed. It 
is foreshadowed in the language of the compact, and in a 
few years was realized in action. It had its advantages, 
however, and the chief of these were that it enabled the 
people at once to organize a government, and strengthened 
them to preserve it better than those of Providence, while 
it also was a means of securing and extending their influ- 
ence over the other settlements, who looked up to them 
in many things, and received from them their first code 

' Judge Durfce's discourse before the R. I. Hist. Soc, January, 1847, pp. 
15, IG. 



12. 



ORGANIZATION OF GOVERNMENT. 127 

of laws. But we are anticipating events in commenting chap. 
upon principles. ^ 

Of the nineteen signers of the compact, William 1G37-8. 
Hutchinson died on the island, the other two Hutchin- 
sons, Savage and Aspinwall, afterward returned to Massa- 
chusetts, were well received and promoted to office there. 
All of them, except Coddington and Holden, had been 
disarmed in the famous act of November previous, but 
the shafts of party malice still followed them in their re- 
treat, and five days after the compact was signed Wm. March 
Coddington and ten of his companions, with their fimi- 
lies, were formally banished by the General Court. ' This 
event had no influence on their plans. Their government 
was already organized at a full meeting of the signers, at 
which Wm, Aspinwall was chosen Secretary, and Wm. 
Coddington was elected, and took his engagement as 
Judge, or chief magistrate, and Wm. Dyre was elected 
Clerk. This meeting was held in Providence. A few 
days afterward the purchase of the island was completed, 
and the settlement very shortly commenced. Town meet- 
ings were frequent. The records are full and pretty well 
preserved, so that we are enabled to know more concern- 1 ^ ^ S- 
iug their early movements than we can of those at Provi- 
dence. But a small number of acts were passed at each 
meeting, relating to matters of immediate concern, 
j^ At the first meeting the earliest recorded act passed n^j 
in Rhode Island related to the admission of freemen, that 13. 
none should be admitted as such but by consent of the 
Body, and who submit to the established government. 
The other acts fix the location of the town, to be " build- 
ed at the spring ; " order that every inhabitant should be 
fully equipped with certain arms ; establish a site for the 
meeting house ; and make a temporary apportionment of 

^ Their names were Wm. Coddiugton, John Coggeshall, Wm. Baulstone, 
Ed. Hutchinson, Samuel Wilbore, John Porter, Henry Bull, Philip Shearman, 
Wm. Freeborne and PJchard Carder.— M. C. R., i., 223. 



24. 



128 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, land to each inlmbitant, of an acre of meadow for every 
,_^^^ Least and sheep, and an acre and a half for a horse, which 
16 8 8. la.tter act was afterward repealed, and a more definite di- 
vision made. The town was built around the head of the 
pond, or cove, from which there was formerly an outlet to 
the hay deep enough for small vessels to enter. The re- 
mains of this first settlement may still he traced. Some- 
what later a new town was laid out more to the south and 
east, called Ne-^ytown, to distinguish it from the old, which 
^.^y name that part of Portsmouth still retains. The follow- 
20. iug week the town was laid out, six-acre lots were as- 
signed to the proprietors, and provision made for record- 
ing land titles. An inn, brewery and general grocery "to 
sell wines and strong waters and such necessary j^rovisions 
as may be useful," was also established, to be in charge 
of Wm. Baulston. This was doubtless the first tavern 
in the State. A military organization was the next ob- 
June ject of attention. At their third meeting officers for the 
train bands were chosen.' x\lrcady the colony had re- 
ceived accessions to its numbers. Land on the island had 
been taken up, for which the new-comers were required 
to pay into the town treasury two shillings an acre, which 
price was fixed for all future inhabitants. Two treasur- 
ers, William Hutcliinson and John Coggeshall, were 
chosen for one year. The highways were ordered to 
be repaired, and a fine of one shilhug was laid ujion all 
who should be fifteen minutes late at town meeting, or 
should leave it without permission before adjournment. 

Aug. The first admission of freemen occurred in Aus:ust,- and 
20. . . ° .' 

at the same time " a pair of stockes ^ and a whipping 

' Wm. Baulston and Ed. Hutclmison, sergeants ; Samuel WUbore, clerk ; 
Randal Holdsn and Henry Bull, cor^iorals. 

- There were four admitted, viz., Richard Dummer, Nicholas Eastoii, Wni. 
Brenton and Robert Harding. 

^ This was a pet punisliment with the landed aristocracy of the old coun- 
try, and early transplanted to the new. The condition of English society 
which tolerated the stocks, is graphically described by Sir E. Bulwer Lyttou 



12. 



FIRST MILITIA TRAINING. 129 

post 1 " were ordered to be made. Three days afterward a chap. 
prisoUj twelve feet by ten, Avas ordered to be built, thus ,^„.,J_ 
completing the preparations for the vindication of violated 16 3 8. 
law, and Eandal Holden was appointed Marshal of the 23? 
colony for one year. They were very soon required, for in a 
few days eight men having committed " a riot of drunken- ^^pt. 
ness," were brought before the town meeting by warrant, 
and variously fined, and three of them sentenced to the 15. 
stocks. Viewers of corn and other produce were chosen, 
whose, duty was to examine the crops, and report any 
damage that might be done to them by cattle running at 
large. The object of this law was to enable those whose 
crops might suffer in that way to recover damages before 
the court from the owners of the cattle. The military ,^ ' 

j> ov. 

having before been organized, as stated, a general train- 
ing was appointed, at which all men between the ages of 5. 
sixteen and fifty years were warned to attend on the fol- 
lowing Monday. This no doubt was the first militia mus- 
ter ever held in Ehode Island. 

The growth of the town now required greater pru- 
dence in- the apportionment of land. The size of house 
lots was fixed at three acres, being one-half the quantity Xo' 
held by each of the original inhabitants. A baker was 
appointed for the plantation, from whom the town was to 

in " My Novel," where the reader will fiud in the first three hooks some 
scenes related such as this island may have witnessed two centuries ago ; 
always excepting the one in book third, chapter ix., where the inimitable Ilic- 
cabocca paj-s the forfeit of benevolent curiosity, by being caught in the stocks, 
himself, and is thus found by his friends, quietly meditating under his red um- 
brella. There may have been some Lenny Fuirchilds in Rhode Island, but no 
counterpart to the fatherly and philosophical Italian. I am sure the reader 
will pardon this note if it leads him to peruse the .admirable sketch of English 
life here referred to, and if he is already familiar with it the recollection will 
serve to relieve his mind from the dry record of actual history. 

' This punishment nominally existed until a recent period in this State. 
The last public infliction of it was on the Court House parade in Providence, 
July 14th, 1837, for horse stealing. It had long been in disuse until this re- 
currence of it aroused public attention to its legal existence, when it was 
soon after struck from the statute book. It still exists in many of the States. 

VOL. I — 



130 HISTOKY OF THE STATE OF KHODE ISLAND. 

purchase the bread used at the meeting of the courts. A 
few days after we find that a water-mill was projected hy 
Mr. Nicholas Esson/ for the use of the plantation, and a 
grant of land and timber made to him for this purpose. 
Tlie earhest case of an absconding debtor in the colony 
occurred at this time. John Luther, a carpenter, fled 
from the island, leaving sundry debts unpaid. His prop- 
erty was duly appraised and sold for the benefit of his 
creditors. The disposition to regulate trade by establish- 
ing prices at which articles should be bought and sold, 
which had already given much trouble in Massachusetts, 
and continued to do so until the repeal of the statute left 
such matters to regulate themselves, showed itself early 
among the Portsmouth settlers. Four " truckmasters," 
as they were called, w^ere appointed for the venison trade 
with the Indians, and the prices fixed upon this staple 
article of food were limited to a penny ha'penny a pound 
to be paid for it, and two pence a pound as the selling 
price. One farthing a pound, being one-half the profit 
thus secured to the dealers, was to be paid into the treas- 
ury. - 

Up to this time the government had been a pure dc- 
Jan. ' mocracy. All acts had been passed in public meetings 
of the whole body. The Judge and Clerk had acted only 
as cliairman and secretary of the assembled townsmen, 
by whom all laws had been passed, and all proceedings, 
whether legislative, judicial, or executive, conducted. A 
change now took place by appointing three Elders to as- 

' The name was also spelt Easou and Easton in the records. This was 
the same who with his two sons, Peter and John, built the first house in New- 
port, six months later. 

- A net profit of about seventeen per cent, on the capital hivestcd, is here 
allowed, and is a better margin than is usually left to the dealer under re- 
stricted laws of trade. It also compares well with average results of modern 
ti-affic. In this case the capital was all that was required. Deer and Indians 
were both abimdant, so that but little labor and no skill were needed on the 
part of the " truckmasters." 



1638-9 



PKOCEEDINGS IN TOWN MEETINGS, 131 

sist the Judge in Lis judicial duties, to frame laws, to chap. 
have the entire charge of the public interests, and with 
the Judge to govern the colony. These officers were to 
render an account of their proceedings at quarterly meet- 
ings of the town, where their acts were subject to revi- 
sion, or repeal, if disapproved. A jealousy of delegated 
power is here apparent, like that which existed in the 
Providence plantation, and which presents a marked con- 
trast to the feeling then prevalent in the community 
which they had so lately left. Sealed ballots were used 
at this election. Nicholas Easton, John Coggeshall and 
William Brenton were chosen Elders, and their election 

was duly ratified. At the next meeting the town united 

Jau 
with the Judge and Elders to choose a Constable and 04.' 

town Sergeant, and to define their duties. Samuel Wil- 
bore was elected for the former office, whose duties were 
to see that peace be kept, and to inform of any breaches 
thereof, with power to command aid for that purpose if 
needed. Henry Bull was elected Sergeant, to execute 
orders of the Court, to serve warrants and to keep the 
jirison, with similar power to demand aid from any per- 
sons in the discharge of his office. The business of the 
town for the ensuing three months was transacted by the 

Judge and Elders. By their act new comers were admit- 

. . . , . . Feb. 

ted as inhabitants, and complaints for exaction in trade 7. ' 

were redressed. A singular proceeding was taken in re- 
gard to William Aspinwall, upon whom suspicions of se- 
dition against the State rested. Neither the grounds of 
suspicion nor the nature of the sedition is stated, but an 
order was issued forbidding further work upon a boat that 
he was having built. This kind of security for good con- 
duct seems to have been usual, for one Osamund Doutch, 
who at the same Court was admitted an inhabitant, was 
likewise complained of for some wrong-doing, and his 
shallop pledged in a bond of indemnity that he was re- 
quired to give. Probably boats were considered the most 



132 HISTOEY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

available and desirable property in an island settlement.' 
Swine were considered a nnisance, and their removal or 
163 9. confinement was early provided for. They were ordered 
^ If' to be sent six miles distant from the town, or to some ad- 
jacent islaDd, or else were to be shut up so as to be inof- 
fensive, and subsequently the act was enforced by a fine 
of two pence for each hog that was found in the town af- 
ter four days. A cattle pound was also provided. To 
guard against invasions from the Indians, and likewise to 
secure the peace of the settlement from the chances of 
riot, an alarm was established. The firing of three mus- 
kets, with the cry of " Alarum," was the signal upon 
which all the inhabitants were to repair to the house of 
the Judge. 

The colony had now so greatly increased that a divi- 

-^- sion was deemed expedient. A meeting was held, at which 

the following agreement was entered into by the signers, 

by whom the settlement of Newport was commenced on 

the south-west side of the island. 

"PocASSET. Ou the 28tli of the 2tl, 1039. 
" It is agreed by us whose hands are underwritten, to 
propagate a Plantation in the midst of the Island or else- 
where ; And doe engage ourselves to bear equall charges, 
answerable to our strength and estates in common ; and 
that our determinations shall be by major voice of judge 
and elders ; the Judge to have a double voice. 

" PRESENT : 
AYM. CODDINGTON, Jtulfje. 
Nicholas Eastois", 

JoiTN COGGESHAIX, 

"William Beextos', 
John Clarke, j- Elders. 

Jeremy Olerke, I 
TnoMAS Hazard, ! 
Henry Bttll, J 

William Dyee, Clcrli.'''' 

' As we hear no more of the charge of sedition, we may infer that it was 



THE SECOND COMPACT AT POCASSET, 133 

All the members of the Pocasset government, it will chap. 

be observed, are among the emigrants. They carried with ^^ ^ 

them their records up to this date. Why they did this 16 3 9. 
does not appear, for although they were the most promi- 
nent men, and their settlement soon became the leading 
one in the State, yet by far the largest number then re- 
siding at Pocasset remained. Thus deprived at once of 
their government and their records, a new organization 
was necessary, and two days afterward they formed a new . .. 
compact as follows : " We whose names are under[writ- 30. 
ten do acknowledge] ourselves the legal subjects of [His 
Majesty] King Charles, and in his name [do hereby bind] 
ourselves into a civill body politicke and [do submit] unto 
his lawes according to matters of justice, i" Thirty-one 
names are signed to this document,^ following which, of 



uu sustained, and that the boat was allowed to be finished, for about three 
months later, 28th April, it was attached for debt, which is the only com- 
plaint ever afterward brought against Aspinwall. He occupied many positions 
of trust in the colony. Early in 1642, probably in April, he returned to 
Massachusetts, and " upon his petition and certificate of good caniage was 
restored again to his former liberty of freedom." M. C. R., ii. 3. 

' The record is much mutilated and defaced. The words in brackets are 
interpolated to preserve the sense. These interpolations are all at the end of 
the lines where the edge of the sheet is torn off. The remaining words are 
very legible. 

^ AVm. Hutchinson, Samuel Gorton, Samuel Hutchinson, John Wickes, 
Richard Maggson, Thomas Spicer, John Roome, John Geoffe, (Sloffe ?) Thom- 
as Beddar, Erasmus BuUocke, Sampson Shotten, Ralph Earle, Robert Potter, 
Nathanyell Potter, George Potter, Wm. Heavens (W. T. Havens ?) George 
Shaw (Chare ?) George Lawton, Anthony Paine, Jobe Hawkins, Richard 
Awarde, John More (Mow ?) Nicholas Browne, Wm. Richardson, John Trippe, 
Thomas Layton, Robert Stainton, John Brigges, James Davis. In R. I. C. R. 
i. 70 but twenty-nine names are given. The other two on the Record have a 
pen mark across them as if to expunge them from the list, and probably for 
this reason are not copied in the printed records. One of these names is that 
of Wm. Aspinwall, who, on the same day, was chosen one of the assistants, 
and continued, for three years, a resident of the colony. His signature be- 
longs there, and why erased we cannot say unless it was done after his return 
to Massachusetts in 1642. We infer the same, although with less positive 
proof of the other erasure, and hence state the number of signers at thirty- 
one, two more than the printed records show. 



134 HISTOKY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, the same date, is tlieir agreement of government. " Ac- 
^ ■ cording to the true intent of the [foregoing, wee] whose 

16 3 9. names are above jierticnlarly [recorded, do agree] jointly 
or by the major voice to g[overn ourselves by the] Rulee 
or Judge amongst us in all [transactions] for the spacr 
and term of one [year, he] behaving himself according to 
the t[enor of the same.]" They then proceeded to elect 
William Hutchinson Judge, The mutilation of the rec- 
ords has destroyed the name, and no clue to it is given in 
any of the subsequent pages, but Winthrop has fortu- 
nately preserved it.* Seven assistants were also chosen, 

Tlie writer devoted a whole summer to studying and making exh'acts 
from the Portsmouth records, a year before they were printed by the State, 
and may be permitted to follow the results of his own researches, even where 
they diifer somewhat from the version since printed by Authority. In the 
foregoing list, where the writer's version differs from that of the printed rec- 
ords, the name, as given in the latter, is enclosed in brackets. It will be ob- 
served that there are four of these variations, besides the two first explained, 
which require that the author should state further reasons, besides the evi- 
dence of his own eyes, why he prefers the versions here retained. The 
names of Goffe, Shaw and More occur often on the records, and are pei-petu- 
ated in a very numerous descent at this day on the island, while the names 
as printed are nowhere else to be found or traced. W. T. Havens should be 
Wm. Havens, as afterward appears on the records. Middle names were not 
in iise in that age. The difficulty of deciphering these ancient records is 
greatly increased by the fact that many of them are written in the German 
script or old English letter, and unless the student is familiar with that lan- 
guage or character, his only mode of reading such passages is by making an 
alphabet, somewhat in the way pursued by Champollion in his application of 
the Rosetta Stone to Egyptian hieroglyphics. The chances of error are much 
increas«>d by this pi-ocess. 

Lest these remarks should be misapprehended as throwing a doubt on the 
reliability of the printed records, the writer deems it just and proper to say 
that the errors therein contained are few and of little practical importance, 
so far as he has discovered. Some errors have occurred in printing that are 
readily detected. The completeness and accuracy of the work as a whole, 
can only be duly appreciated by those who know the many difficulties incident 
to such a task. Mutilation, erasm-e, fading ink, blotting, insects, dampness, 
ever-varying orthography, and often bad chb'ography, to all which add the 
frequent use of a foreign character, as above stated, and we have some of the 
inevitable hindrances that attend the reading of our earliest records. 

M. 295, May 11th, 1639. "At Aquiday the peojjle grew veiy tumul- 
tuous, and put out Mr. Coddington and the other three magistrates, and chose 



TWO GOVEKNMENTS ON THE ISLAND. 135 

*' for tlie help and ease of conducting public business and chap. 
affairs, and to lay out lands," viz. : William Balston, ._,.^ 

John Porter, John , Williaro Freeborne, John 16 3 9. 

Wall, Philip Shearman and William Aspinwall. The 
surname of the third assistant, like that of the Judge, 
being near the edge of the page, is torn off. These offi- 
cers were constituted a court for settling any dispute in- 
volving less than forty shillings. Provision was also made 
for a quarterly court of trials with a jury of twelve men. 
Two distinct governments, which lasted the remainder 
of the year, were thus established on the island. That 
at Pocasset was occupied with business of a local nature, 
chiefly in apportionments of land and house lots, which 
were to be forfeited if not built upon within one year. No 
man was allowed either to sell his lot or to offer it to the 

Mr. Will. Hutcliiuson only, a man of very mild temjier and weak parts, and 
whoUy guided by his wife, who had been the beginner of all the former trou- 
bles in the country, and still continued to breed disturbance." The " putting- 
out " here recorded, is evidently a Puritan version of the emigration from 
Pocasset to Newport a few days previous, which shows how carefully we should 
regard the statements of the Massachusetts chroniclers, when the most hberal 
of them all can thus construe the acts of those from whom he differed in 
opinion. He is in error in using the word " only " in the passage above 
quoted ; the records of Portsmouth showing, as stated in the text, that seven 
Assistants were chosen at the same time with the Judge. There are also two 
singular errors, one of omission and one of misstatement, in Judge'Eddy's let- 
ter to the Editor, quoted in the note appended to this passage. 

The first consists in overlooking the fact of the emigration of the Magis- 
trates, and the election of others by those who remained at Pocasset, of which 
Judge Eddy does not seem to have been aware, and which led him to assert 
wrongly of Wm. Hutchinson's election as an Assistant in 1G40, that " this 
was the only time he was chosen to office." The diligence of Judge Eddy and 
his general accuracy is admitted by all who have pursued the same path of 
research in our State Archives. The two errors here noticed could not have 
been avoided by one who only examined, however carefully, the State records, 
and it is evident from this letter that its writer had not, up to that time, con- 
sulted the Portsmouth town records. 

It is fortunate that Wiuthrop has thus accidentally enabled us to supply a 
defect caused by a mutilation of the records. Without this confirmation we 
should still have conjectured that Hutchinson was the man selected as Judge, 
for he was one of the eighteen original proprietors, and was perhaps the most 
important person left at Pocasset after the emigration. 



136 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

town. The only act of public interest was to change the 

name of the place to Portsmouth, which was done at the 

16 3 9. first quarterly meeting under the new organization, and 

J confirmed by the united government the next year. 

The nine men who signed the agreement at Pocasset 

^P"l proceeded at once to make their new settlement. By a 
28. 

manuscript journal kept by Nicholas Easton, it appears 

30. that he with his two sons, Peter and John, came by boat 
to an island where they lodged, and the next morning 

j'^^ named it Coasters' Harbor, Thence they came to New- 
port the same day, M^here they erected the first English 
building. ' The others were not far behind, if they did 
not accompany the Eastons, for in their first meeting they 

1^- speak of " the plantation now begun at this south-west 
end of the island," naming it Newport, establishing the 
site of the town " on both sides of the spring, and by the 
seaside southward," and fixing the line dividing it from 
Pocasset at a point five miles north and east from the 
town. The spring referred to was on the west side of 
Spring street, near the State House, whence a stream ran 
a north-west course to the harbor. It appears that some 
doubt existed at first as to the best location for the town. 
A dense swamp skirted the harl)or where Thames street 
now is. This fact led them to direct their attention to 
the beach. There they found only an open roadstead un- 
safe for shipping ; so they returned to the harbor, sur- 
veyed it, and wisely decided on the present location. The 

' Tliis fact entitles N. Easton to tlie honor of being consiJored the founder 
of Newport, unless an equal share is claimed for his eight associates, who do 
not appear to have been as prompt in their arrival or in establishing their 
settlement by actual building. That he was endowed with the peculiar en- 
ergy of a pioneer appears by his previous history. The house was on the east 
side of Farewell street, a little west of the Friends' meeting-house. It was 
burnt down in IGil by the carelessness or the malice of some Indians, who 
kindled a fire in the woods near by. There and in Tanner and Marlborough 
streets the ilrst houses were built. Gov. Coddington's house was on the north 
side of the latter street and fronting Duke street. — BulVs Memoir of Rhode 
Island. 



SETTLEMENT OF NEWPORT. 137 

swamp has long since given place to crowded thorough- 
fares, and the finest harhor in America remains to attest 
the wisdom of their choice. Provision was made for every 1 ''> ^ 9. 
servant who remained with them to have ten acres of land 
as a free gift upon his admission. The business of laying 
out the lands was soon commenced. The opinion of the 5. 
l)ody is recorded " that the land might reasonably accom- 
modate fifty families." Four acres were assigned for each 
house lot, and six acres were granted to Mr. Coddington 
for an orchard.' Free trade with the Indians was per- 
mitted to all men. Some differences on this subject had 
arisen which probably occasioned this decree. The ap- ggp^, 
pointment of " truckmasters " had not given satisfaction 2. 
at Pocasset, and the Newport settlers profited by their 
experience. A justice's court, composed of the Judge Oct. 
and Elders, was appointed to meet the first Tuesday ^• 
in every month, to decide such causes as might come 
before them. At the quarterly town meetings, called also 
courts, a majority was to rule, and the Judge was allowed 
two votes. Under this date appears a list of fifty-nine 
persons, "who by the general consent of the company were 
admitted to be inhabitants- of the island, now called 
Aquedneck, having submitted themselves to the govern- 
ment that is or shall be established, according to the word 
of God, therein," and also a supplemental list of forty-two 
" inhabitants admitted at the towne of Niew-Port since 
the 20th of the 3d, 1638," (1639,) making one hundred 
and one registered inhabitants at that time.'^ Nearly one 
half of the first list is composed of names signed to the 

^ Tliis is the second orchard known in Rhode Island. The first was planted 
by W. Blackstone in 1635. 

" There is a singular recurrence of this precise number of persons in our 
early history. The Pilgrims landing from the Mayflower in 1620 were one 
hundred and one. The number of men in Providence fit for military duty in 
1615 was one hundred and one. The number of jiroprietors there at the last 
division of lands in 1718, was one hundred and one, and we here see the 
number of registered inhabitants of Aquedneck in Oct., 1639, to be one hun- 
dred and one. 



138 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

Pocasset agreement of April SOtli, and the greater part 
of it is made wp of those who still resided there, by which 
we may foresee the union of the governments shortly to 
take place. None of the proprietors' names are in either 
list. They were the company by whom, with such as 
they from time to time admitted, all others were received. 
The supplemental list contains only the names of such as 
had come to the island during the summer. 

We have before seen that the organization of courts 
very early occupied the attention of the colonists. The 
administration of justice was promptly provided for, con- 
trary to the slanders of their neighbors, who from the ab- 
sence of any law religion at either Providence or Aqued- 
neck, freely charged them with a disregard for both law 
and religion. A division of labor in judicial matters, it 
is true, was not immediately provided. Their circum- 
stances did not at once permit the establishment of a va- 
riety of courts, with limited and well-defined jurisdic- 
tions, as at the present day. The number of the colo- 
nists was too small, and the nature of the causes arising 
among them did not require any extended judicial sys- 
tem. Yet we have seen that something of this had al- 
ready been undertaken at Pocasset. The Court of As- 
sistants was to have cognizance of small causes, and a 
quarterly court for jury trials was established. This 
progress in one year, with the establishment of justices' 
courts immediately upon their settlement, fully attests 
their regard for law. The character of the men, with the 
fact that a majority of them were members of the Boston 
church before their exile, and many still continued to be 
Nov. so, answers the other portion of the charge. A formal 
act of the whole people, passed at this time, will set their 
regard for justice, and their care in providing for its ad- 
ministration, in still clearer light. " By the Body Poli- 
ticke in the lie of Aquethnec, Inhabiting this present 25 
of 9 month, 1639. 



25. 



THE FIRST CHURCH AT AQUEDNECK. 139 

" In the fourteenth yeare of y° Raign of our Soveraign chap. 
Lord King Charles. It is agreed, That as Natural sub- ^^Jli^ 
jects to our Prince, and subject to his Lawes, all matters 16 3 9. 
that concerne the Peace shall be by those that are officers 
of the Peace, Transacted ; And all actions of the case, 
or Debt, shall be in such Courts as by order are here ap- 
pointed, and by such Judges as are Deputed : Heard and 
Legally Determined. 

" Given at Niew-Port on the Quarter Courte Day 
which was adjourned till y' Day. 

" William Dyre, Sec." 

Meanwhile their spiritual concerns were not neglect- 
ed. We have the same reasons that were assigned in the 
previous chapter for supposing that at Aquedneck, as 
well as at Providence, religious services were regularly 
conducted before any positive notice is found of the forma- 
tion of a church. In Winthrop's Journal we read, 
"They also gathered a church in a very disordered way : ^^^ 
for they took some excommunicated persons, and others 
who were members of the church of Boston and not dis- 
missed." The position of this record in reference to what 
precedes it,' seems to indicate that the church was formed 
at or about the time of the Newport settlement, but 
whether there or at Pocasset, by the emigrants or by those 
who remained, is not so apparent. The construction of 
the sentence makes it probable that the latter is intended. 
No other contemporary record of the formation of such a 
church remains."^ Whatever were its doctrines it existed 

' Winthrop, i. 297, nnder date of May lltli, 1639, and immediately fol- 
lowing the statement of the ejection of the magistrates quoted in note 1, p. 
134. 

" It is this church, if any in Rhode Island, that can be claimed to ante- 
date the Baptist church already formed in Providence. Yet the record of 
Winthrop mentions the formation of that church nearly two months earlier 
than the one at Aquedneck. The former is distinctly described as Baptist in 
its ordinances. Of the latter the only clue given to its doctrines is that some 
of its members were still members of the Boston church, which fact, if it 



140 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, but a sliort time in its original form, if we may rely on 
,_^:^ the authority of Lechford, but gave place in a few years 
1 « 3 0. to a flourishing Baptist church, under the pastoral charge 
of the Kev. John Clarke, who had been Elder of the former 
churcli. ' The same authority states that at Portsmouth 
there was then no churcli, " but a meeting of some men 
who there teach one another and call it Prophecie."- 
That a due regard was felt for rehgious matters at both 
the Aquedneck towns, as well as at Providence, we think 
has now been sufficiently shown on firmer grounds than 
simple inference. That " at Ao[uiday they gathered a 
church in a very disordered way," which they could not 

proves nothing else, shows pretty condusivcly that they were not B.iptists. 
If some wiiters whose ability entitles their judgment to respect had not, of 
late years, expressed a doubt upon the point, the Author would feel little hes- 
itation in expressing what is in liis own mind a fiiTQ conTiction, that the 
church at Aquedneck was formed some little time prior to May llth, 1639, 
and was in its faith and ordinances an Independent Congregational Church, of 
the Puritan pedobaptist order. Mr. Savage, in a note to the passage quoted 
in the test, has a just comment on the way the church is there described as 
being gathered. See note (2) p. 107, ante. 

' Plaine Dealing or News from N. England, London, IG-tl. The writer 
used the copy in the British Museum, and collated the parts relating to Rhode 
Island, with the re-publication in 3 ]\I. H. C, iii. 9G, 7, where the book is 
dated 1642. Perhaps there were two editions. Lechford says : "At the 
island called Aquedney are about two hundred families. There was a chnrch 
where one Master Clarke was elder. The place where the church was is 
called Newport, but that church I hcare is now dissolved." He is quoted as 
evidence against the existence of the Baptist chiurch at Providence at the 
time he wrote, but nothing he says on that subject is so direct to that point 
as the jiassage here given, bearing upon the other side of the question, and 
which is quite overlooked in the discussion referred to in the foregoing chap- 
ter, note (2) p. 107. The probability is that Lechford's statement is correct, 
that this earliest Aquedneck church was dissolved, and that in the change of 
doctrinal opinion so rife in that age, there soon after arose from the materials 
of the old church, and includhig its pastor, a Baptist church, founded, as Cal- 
lender believed (R. I. H. C. iv. 117), "in 11)14, by Mr. John Clarke and some 
others." 

- The views of "Thomas Lechford, of Clements Inne, in the county of 
Middlesex, Gent.," as he describes himself on his title-page, the High Church- 
man, wi'iting confessedly to prove his right to be so considered, may be pre- 
sumed to differ materially from those of our antinomian progenitors of Aqued- 
neck, upon the controverted question, " What constitutes a church ? " 



FIRST MOVEMENT FOR A CHARTER. 141 

avoid, and that " at Providence things grew still worse/' chap. 
in Puritan opinion, and a Baptist church was the result, ,^,,.1^ 
will not be held, at this day, to militate against the piety 16 3 u. 
or the prudence of our ancestors. 

The military organization was very soon completed, ^25. 
as at Portsmouth. It was kept distinct from the other 
branches of government, but subject, in the choice of offi- 
cers, to the approval of the Magistrates. Every man ca- 
pable of bearing arms was enrolled. " The Body of the 
people, viz., the Traine Band," were left free to choose 
their own officers to exercise and train them, who were to 
be approved by the Magistrates. No man was allowed 
to go two miles from town, or to attend any public meet- 
ing, under penalty of five shillings fine, without carrying 
a gun or sword. The danger of Indian hostility occa- 
sioned this great precaution. 

Negotiations with Pocasset were already in progress 
with a view to a united government. A yet more im- 
portant project was discussed. Mr. Easton and Mr. John 
Clarke were desired to write to Sir Henry Vane about the 
condition of the island, in order to obtain his influence in 
securing a charter from the King. Mr. Thomas Burr- 
wood, a brother of Mr. Easton, was also to be written to 
on the same subject. The Court adjourned for three 
weeks. In the interval two men, having broken the peace j 
by drunkenness, were tried by the Magistrate's, or '" par- 3. 
ticular Court," and fined five shillings each, " according 
to the law in that case provided." No respect of persons 
was shown in the infant commonwealth, when any vio- 
lated law required a vindication. At the adjourned meet- 
ing of the Quarter Court the first act was to imj^ose a 
fine of five shilHngs u23on Mr. Easton, one of the Elders, 
or assistants, for attending without his weapon. The 
sanitary precautions, noticed at Pocasset, were taken also 
at Newport. Hogs were prohibited from running at large 
between the middle of April and October. A repeal of 



142 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, the former order on tliis subject, whicli, it may be remem- 
..^J^i^^ bered, required their removal to a distance of six miles 
163 9. from the town, or to some adjacent island, would make 
J- ■ it appear tliat the orders passed the previous year at Po- 
casset were held to be in force at Newport, a view that is 
strengthened by the fact of their having carried with them 
all the records, as before stated. A pair of stocks and a 
. whipping post were now ordered for the town. 
1039-40. The earliest export trade of Rhode Island was in lum- 

ber. The home prices w^ere regulated by law. In the 
l^ ■ earliest enactment on this subject these are fixed at eight 
shillings the hundred for sawed boards, seven shillings for 
half inch boards, delivered at the mill, and one shilling a 
foot for clapboards and fencing, to be sound, merchanta- 
ble stuff. Timber was not to be cut or exported A^dthout 
a license. By a record at Portsmouth, now much defaced, 
it a2:)pears that a ship load of pipe staves and clapboards 
was obtained there about this time. A few years later ' 
ship building was commenced, and has ever since been an 
important branch of business in the State. 

A scarcity of provisions, which, but for the ample sup- 
ply of fish and game that abounded in the sea and the 
forests, would have threatened a famine, caused a survey 
and census to be taken. This showed that there were 
-2- ninety-six persons inhabiting the town, and only one hun- 
dred and eight bushels of corn among them.- This was 
equally divided, and the stock was calculated to last for 

' In 164G the New Haven colony built a ship of one liuudred and fifty 
tons at Rhode Island. Trumbull's Conn., i. IGl. 

" The apparent discrepancy between this census of ninety-six persons and 
the registered list of one hundred and one males in October, is reconciled by 
the fact that nearly all of the first list of fifty-nine men resided at Pocasset. 
The second list of forty-two were new comers on the island and lived at New- 
port. The apportionment of only thirty-six quarts of corn to each person to 
last for six weeks, being less than one quart per day, and that too in mid- 
winter, with six mouths yet to harvest time, shows a fearful scarcity. It was 
evidently contemplated to obtain supplies from abroad within the sis weeks, 
but where or how does not appear. 



12. 



UNION OF PORTSMOUTH AND NEWPORT. 143 

six weeks. The next quarterly meeting was held four chap. 
days sooner than the regular time, which fell on Sunday. 
Provision was made for tlie annual election of all the of- 
ficers, to be held on the twelfth day of March, forever af- 
ter, in a General Assembly of the Freemen, and such, as 
could not be present were " to send in their votes, sealed 
up, to the Judge." At the expiration of the sis weeks 
from the time the corn was divided, all the sea banks were March 
declared free for fisbing, but whether in consequence of the 
scarcity of provisions, or as a simple matter of public 
right, is not stated — probably the latter. 

At the first General Court of Election ever held in 
Newport, very important proceedings were had. William 
Hutchinson, Judge, and several of the principal men of 
Portsmouth, who had not before applied, were reunited 
to the Body, and some who had been registered as inhab- 
itants in October were now admitted as freemen, and a 
general act for the admission of freemen was passed by 
the united Bodies of both towns, hereafter to constitute 
but one government. The style and number of the mag- 
istrates were changed. The titles of Judge and Elder 
were abolished. The Chief was called Governor, the next 
in office Deputy Governor, and the other four Magistrates, 
Assistants. An equal number of the general officers were 
to be chosen from each town, the Governor and two As- 
sistants from one, and the Deputy Governor and two As- 
sistants from the other. The change of the name of Po- 
casset to Portsmouth, which had been there made the pre- 
vious July, was now confirmed. The election resulted in 
the choice of William Coddington, Governor, WiUiam 
Brenton, Deputy Governor, Nicholas Easton, John Cogges- 
hall, William Hutcbinson and John Porter, Assistants. 
The two latter and Mr. Brenton lived at Portsmouth. 
Eobert Jeffreys, of Newport, and William Balston, of 
Portsmouth, were chosen Treasurers. William Dyre, 
Secretary, Jeremy Clark Constable for Newport, and John 



144 HISTOEY or THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP. Sanclford for Portsmouth, and Henry Bull, Sergeant, all for 
^j;^^ one year, or till others should be chosen. The Governor 

10 40. and Assistants were made Justices of the Peace. Five 
22 ' men were selected for Portsmouth and three for Newport 
to lay out lands, and pro\nsion was made to record land 
titles in conformity thereto. 

This union of the towns was a most desirable event. 
Already the evils of a divided jurisdiction had become 
apparent, while the rights of the proj)rietors, in whom 
rested the fee of the whole island, w^ould have oc- 
casioned disputes which were thus happily prevented. 
The idea of a free charter also, which v/as seriously en- 
tertained by the people, doubtless contributed largely to 
effect a union. The movement was particularly benefi- 
cial to Newport, which at that time was much the smaller 
of the two. It soon became virtually the capital, al- 
though the Quarter Courts, or meetings of the General 
Assembly, and the General Courts of Election were held 
in both towns at various times. The " particular Courts/' 
consisting of magistrates and jurors, were ordered to be 
-.r . held monthly in each town. These Courts had jurisdic- 

6. tion in all causes not involving '" life and limb." From 
their decision there was a right of appeal to the Quarter 
Sessions, which were held the first Tuesdays in March, 
June, September and December. The laws were revised 
and several of them repealed, among which v/as the one 
forfeiting house lots that were not built upon within one 
year from the grant. 

j^^]^, A formal convention or treaty was made by the gov- 

7. ernment witli the Narraganset Indians, and duly ratified 
at the next General Court. It provides that no fire 

o.""" should be kindled by the Indians on the island, but such 
as should be extinguished on their departure, and if any 
damage result therefrom it shall be made good on legal 
trial ; that for a hog that had been killed by an Indian, 
ten fathoms of wampum should be paid at the next liar- 



MILITIA LAW PROVISION FOR SCHOOLS. 145 

vest ; that no trajjs for deer or cattle should be set by In- 
dians on the island ; that if any Indian was unruly, or 
committed any small crime, he should be punished by a 
magistrate, according to law ; but if the charge involved 
a greater sum than ten fathoms of beads, or if the accused 
party was a sachem, however trivial the charge, then Mi- 
antinomi was to be sent for to be present at the trial ; 
that neither English nor Indians should take the canoes 
belonging to the other ; that no l)argain once made should 
be revoked, and that no idling about should be allowed. 

A militia law, by far more complete than any law 
upon that subject that had before been passed, and the 
most copious of any of the existing acts, now apjiointed 
that eight times a year the bands of both towns were to be 
exercised in the field, and that two general musters, one 
at each town, were to be held every year. The unusual 
minuteness of this statute, the penalties attached to its 
violation, and the stringency of its application, including 
as it did every man who should remain for twenty days 
on the island, and exempting no one except by commuta- 
tion, evinces the feeling of insecurity at that time per- 
vading the whole of New England. 

It has been said that at one time Rhode Island was 
behind all other States in pro\"iding for the education of 
her people. However true this might be of other portions 
of the State it was not so of the island. At this Court, 
Mr. Robert Lenthal was admitted a freeman. He had 
been invited to come and conduct public worship, which 
had previously been done by Mr. Clark, and to teach a 
school. By a vote of the town of Newport he was 
" called to keep a public school for the learning of youtli, 
and for his encouragement there was granted to him and 
his heirs one hundred acres of land, and four more for a 
house lot ;" it was also voted ''.that one hundred acres 
should be laid forth and appropriated for a school, for en- 
couragement of the poorer sort, to train up their youth 

VOL. I 10 



146 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, in learning, and Mr. Robert Lentlial, while he continues 
^' to teach school, is to have the benefit thereof." 
1 G4 0. The two towns were placed on an equal footing in all 

resjK'cts. They vrere allowed to draw similar amounts 
from the public treasury. '" Two Parliamentary (or Gen- 
eral) Courts " were appointed to be held equally at Ports- 
mouth and Newport, on the AVednesday after the twelfth 
of March and of October.^ 

The local affairs of each town being left to its own 
management, we find occasionally some matters initiated 
there which afterwards became of public interest. Such 
St'iit. is the establishment of a ferry by the town of Portsmouth, 
probably at .or near the spot long afterwards known as 
Rowland's ferry, where " the stone bridge " now is, being 
the narrowest part of the east passage, and but a short 
distance from the original settlement of Pocasset. Thos. 
Gorton was appointed ferryman. The fares were fixed at 
sixjjence a man, or threepence each if more than three 
were taken at one trii"), and four23euce a head for goats and 
swine. 

The Secretary was required to attend the two General 
and the four Quarter Sessions courts, receiving threepence 
a da}^ for so doing. The Governor was instructed to write 
to the Governor of Massachusetts to learn the plans of 
that colony with regard to' the Indians. Winthrop has 
fortunately given the substance of that letter, which was 
a joint communication from the Governors of Hartford, 
New Haven and Aqucdncck, " wherein they declared 
their dislike of such as would have the Indians rooted out, 
as being of the cursed race of Ham, and their desire of 
our mutual accord in seeking to gain them by justice and 
kindness, and withal to watch over them to prevent any 

' The record so reads, but in fact the fall session was held in September, 
six mouths after the spring session. Tlie fact and the time both concur in 
rendering it probable that September was intended, and that October was 
written by mistake of the Secretary. 



14. 



164 0. 
Oct. 



OFFICIAL VINDICTIVENESS. 147 

danger Ly them, etc. We returned answer of our consent chap. 
with them in all things propounded, only we refused to -^ — , 
include those of Aquiday in our answer, or to have any 
treaty with them." The action of the General Court of y. 
Massachusetts on this subject is instructive. It gives an 
ofiicial stamp to that vindictive spirit which was soon to 
display itself yet more signally in their treatment of 
Khode Island. " It is ordered that the letter lately sent 
to the Govei-nor by Mr. Eaton, Mr. Hopkins, Mr. Haynes, 
Mr. Coddington and Mr. Brenton, but concerning also the 
Generall Courte shal bee thus answered by the Governor ; 
that the Courte doth assent to all the propositions layde 
down in the aforesaid letter ; but that the answer shall 
be directed to Mr. Eaton, Mr. Hopkins, and Mr. Haynes, 
only excluding Mr. Coddington and Mr. Brenton, as men 
not to be capitulated withal by us, either for themselves 
or the people of the island where they inhabit, as their 
case standeth." ■ 

The second General Court of Election w\as held at 

' 31. C. E., i. 305. Upon this record of the Puritan Legishiture Mr. Sav- 
!ige comments with unsparing severity in a note to the above quoted passage 
in Winthrop. He says : " This is the most exalted triumph of bigotry. Pa- 
pists, Jews, Mussehuen, Idolaters, or Atheists, may be good parties to a civil 
compact, but not erroneous Protestant brethren, of unimpeachable piety, diF- 
ferino- from us in explication of unessential, or unintelligible, points of doubt- 
ful disputation. It was not enough that the common charities of life were 
broken off, but our rulers proved the sincerity of their folly by refusing con- 
nection in a just and necessary course of poUcy, which demanded the concur- 
rence of all the plantations on our coast. This conduct also appears little 
more civil than prudent ; for when those of Aquiday were associated by the 
gentlemen of Connecticut and New Haven in their address, the answer should 
have been directed to all without scruple.'' The Governor of Massachusetts 
at this time was the bigoted Dudley, the man upon whose person there was 
found, when on his death-bed, this original couplet, which embodies the pre- 
vailing sentiment of the age : — 

" Let men of God in court and churches watch 
O'er such as do a tolcjration hatch." 

a verse no doubt considered equally creditable to the piety and the poetic 
genius of the author. We think it was. That such a Governor should adopt 
buch a coiirse might be expected. 



148 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP. Portsmouth and lasted three days. The court roll of 
\_^^ freemen contains sixty names. An engagement to be 
1 G41. taken by all officers of the State was framed as follows : 
10-18. " To ^1^® execution of this office, I judge myself bound 
before God to walk faithfully, and this I profess in the 
presence of God." The only change in general officers 
was in substituting Eobert Harding and William Balston 
as assistants, in place of Nicholas Easton and William 
Hutchinson. The nature of the government was defined 
in these remarkable words : "It is ordered and unani- 
mously agreed upon, that the Government which this 
Bodie Politick doth attend unto in this Island, and the 
Jurisdiction thereof, in tavor of our Prince is a democ- 
EACiE, or Popular Government ; that is to say, It is in 
the Powre of the Body of Freemen, orderly assembled, 
or the major part of them, to make or constitute Just 
Lawes, by which they will ; be regulated, and to depute 
from among themselves such Ministers as shall see them 
foithfully executed between ]\Ian and Man." Not Icbs 
remarkable is the act establishing forever the tenure of 
lands. " It is ordered, Established and Decreed, unani- 
mouslie, that all men's Proprieties in their Lands of the 
Island, and the Jurisdiction thereof, shall be such, and 
soe free, that neyther the State nor any Person or Persons 
shall intrude into it, molest him in itt, to deprive him of 
anything whatsoever that is, or sliall be within that, or 
any of the bounds thereof ; and that this Tenure and Pro- 
priety of his therein shall bo continued to him, or his, or 
to whomsoever he shall assign it for Ever." And thus it 
continued to be for more than two centuries. The feel- 
ing of inviolability which invested real estate in Piliode 
Island has ever formed a st liking characteristic of the 
people. For more than two hundred years the ownership 
of land was essential to the privileges of a freeman, and, 
by the law of j)i'iniogeniture, entitled the oldest son to 
the same immunities, in right of his father, until altered 



RELIGIOUS LIBEETY ESTABLISHED. 149 

by the adoption of the State constitution in 1843. And 
yet more singular was it that until the revision of the 
code in January, 1857, nowhere in Rhode Island could 164i. 
real estate l)e attached for debt except in the absence of lo.is. 
the debtor. So long as he remained anywhere within the 
jurisdiction of the State, his land was secured to him by 
the operation of this earliest law and its subsequent mod- 
ifications. 

A " State " seal was ordered, to be a sheaf of arrows 
1)0und up, with the motto " Amor vincet oonnia," en- 
graved upon the leash. The word " State " aj)pears for 
the first time in this decree. • The possession of a seal has 
always been lield as one of the insignia of sovereignty, or 
of exclusive rights. Its adoption l)y a yet unchartered 
government was significant. The motto was no less so. 
From the absence of the all-conquering affection, as dis- 
played in the conduct of their brethren, they had suffered 
too much not to feel its value. They thus emblazoned 
their opinions to the world, and at the same time passed 
an ever-memorable law which illustrates their motto : " It 
was further ordered, by the authority of this present 
Courte, that none be accounted a Delinquent for Doc- 
trine : Provided, it be not directly repugnant to y' Gov- 
ernment or Lawes established." Eeligious liberty was 
here set forth in terms not to be mistaken, Avhen it is re- 
membered that no laws existed relating to matters of 
faith. " The people having recently transferred the ju- 
dicial power from their own control to the Court and Ju- 
ries, they enacted this law protecting liberty of con- 
science, not choosing to trust the Judiciary with the keep- 
ing of that sacred principle for which they had trans- 
ported themselves, first from England and then from Mas- 
sachusetts. It was the foundation of the future Statutes 
and Bills of Eights, which distinguished the early laws 
and character of the State and people of Ehode Island 
from the other English Colonics in America." ' At no 

' Bull's Memoir of Rhode Island. 



150 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

period of tlie world lias religious inquiry been more rife 
tlian during the seventeenth century. It was eminently 
1641. an age of progress in spiritual development, and as a 
10-18. natural result, or cause, as difierent minds may view it, 
it was the palmy era of theological controversy. Else- 
where an avowal of independent thought was attended 
with danger to the liberty, the property, or the life of tlie 
earnest thinker. Here it was intended to remove all such 
obstacles to free discussion, and to leave a fair field for 
truth to work out its deepest problems. That in this 
process many opinions, which in our day may appear lan- 
cifiil. fanatical, or visionary,* and which may be regarded 
as idle vagaries or spiritual absurdities, were warmly ex- 
pressed and stoutly maintained, is no reproach to the 
principle that permitted their utterance. In an inquiring 
age, when the minds of men were agitated by new and 
startling theories in religion and government ; when the 
progress of liberal sentiments was awakening to fresh life 
the dormant energies of the old world, and urging its op- 
pressed people to seek an asylum in the nevv^ ; when 
education was becoming more diffused, and philosophy 
was no longer confined to the schools, or the elements 
of polity to the court ; when men had begun to think 
for themselves, and dared to question kingly preroga- 
tive and priestly assumption ; when all Europe was cm- 
broiled in wars and distracted by revolutionary senti- 
ments, it is not strange that crude, grotesque, and 
unstable notions should blend with the essential truths 
which lay at the bottom of all this commotion. Novel 
ideas were started, new sects were established, secret 
societies abounded, and those phenomena which ever 
attend a transition state, and which, in this case, were 
a continuation of the movement of the preceding cen- 
tury, were everywhere apparent. The law of Rhode 
Island first sanctioned their existence, and foreshadowed 
the spirit of a future age. That " heresies " should 



EEPUTED HERESIES AT AQUEDNECK. 151 

abound in sucli a community was inevitaLle, and onr chap. 
Puritan neighbors found dcbgbt in recording them with ^^J^ 
more fulness of detail than accuracy or propriety of ex- l<3 41. 
pression. Again we are indebted to Winthrop's Journal 'jQ^g^ 
for facts of which no record is to be found in our own col- 
lections ; and we prefer to quote him, because he was the 
most liberal man of his age and station, to citing the 
more bitter denunciations of Hubbard and Mather, or the 
many other writers of that and the succeeding century, 
whose Dudleian spirit would perhaps more truly portray 
the prevailing temper of the times. Governor Winthrop 
says : " Mrs. Hutchinson and those of Aquiday island, Aug. 
broached new heresies every year. Divers of them turned 
})rofessed anabaptists, and would not wear any arms, and 
denied all magistracy among Christians, and maintained 
that there were no churches since those founded by the 
apostles and evangelists, nor could any be, nor any pas- 
tors ^ordained, nor seals administered but by such, "and 
that the church was to want these all the time she con- 
tinued in the wilderness, as yet she was ; " '■ and again, 

' ii. 38, 40. llie terms anabaptist and antinomian were used generally to 
designate all dissenters from the established faith, and were not applied, as is 
often supposed, specifically to the Baptists and Independents as Christian sects. 
In the above enumeration of doctrines ascribed to the former, there is not 
one that was, or ever has been held by the Baptists, while the distinctive fea- 
ture of that denomination is not even mentioned. Most of the doctrines 
named were held by the Seekers, who were afterwards chiefly merged in the 
Society of Friends, and by their opponents styled Quakers, until that name, 
like that of Christian, has grown from an epithet of contempt to be an hon- 
oi-able appellation. Many, if not all, of these doctrines, in a modified fonn, 
are held by them at this dny. The term applied by Winthrop is liable to 
mislead. That similarity of name implies concurrence of sentiment, is an 
idea as common as it is superficial — a trath well illustrated in the vague use 
here made of the word ' anabaptist' by our Puritan journalist, and since so 
often repeated by his Prelatical brethren. 

The slur upon Mr. Easton in the next passage needs no comment. If the 
i-eader desires one he will find it in a note to Winthrop, i. 281. The first 
three gentlemen there named were all, at various times, Governors of the 
colony. Some, of whom was Mr. Coddington, became Quakers, and others 
Baptists with Mr. Clarke ; which is no doubt the " schism " that broke up the 
original Aquedneck church, of which Mr. Clarke was elder. 



152 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

" Other troubles arose in the island by reason of one 
Nicholas Easton, a tanner, a man very bold, though igno- 
rant. He using to teach at Newport, where Mr. Cod- 
dington their governor lived, maintained that man hath 
no power or will in himself, but as he is acted by God, 
and that seeing God filled all things, nothing could be or 
move but by him, and so he must needs, be the author of 
sin, etc., and that a Christian is united to the essence of 
God. Being showed what blasphemous consequences 
would follow hereupon, they professed to abhor the conse- 
quences, but still defended the projiositious, which dis- 
covered their ignorance, not apprehending how God could 
make a creature as it were in himself, and yet no part of 
his essence, so we see by familiar instances ; the light is 
in the air and in every part of it, yet it is not air, but a 
distinct thing from it. There joined v.'ith Nicholas Eas- 
ton, Mr, Coddington, Mr. Coggeshall, and some others, 
but their minister Mr. Clark, and Mr. Lenthall, and Mr. 
Harding, and some others dissented and publicly opposed, 
whereby it grew to such heat of contention, that it made 
a schism among them," 

. .-, An event that greatly alarmed the inhabitants of the 

-t. island occurred soon after the adjournment of the Court, 
Some Indians, contrary to the treaty of July previous, 
kindled a tire on Mr. Easton's land, whereby his house, 
the first one built at Newport, was destroyed. A misun- 
derstanding ensued that threatened the most serious re- 
sults. An armed boat was fitted out to ply round the 
island to prevent any Indians from landing. Two 
Enoiish were wounded and one Indian killed, in a skir- 
mish. Fortunately peace was soon restored. 

At the ensuiug Court, the law of liberty of conscience 
was re-enacted. "It is ordered that the law of the last 

Se!>t. Court, made concerning Libertie of Conscience in point o± 

^"^^ Doctrine, is perpetuated." A license to practise surgery 

was granted to Mr. Kobcrt JelFreys, the Treasurer of 



DISFRANCHISEMENT OF FREEMEN. 153 

Kewport, This is the eaiiiest record of a licensed sur- chap. 
geon, hut it was not the only case where such a license .^^^^^.^^ 
was granted by the Legislature in this State. The price lij-il. 
of corn was fixed at four shillings a bushel. Inspectors 
of pork were appointed, to whom all swine killed on the 
island were to be shown, under penalty of five pounds. 
Earmarks for swine and goats were regulated by the 
Court, the right of property in them recognized, and the 
marks required to be recorded. 

The following spring the same general officers were iCli-2 
chosen, except that Mr. Easton, who had been super- \^\^^_ 
seded by Robert Harding at the last election, was re- 
elected an assistant, and Mr. Harding dropped. ^ These 
gentlemen continued in office until the charter govern- 
ment was organized, five years later. Sentence of dis- 
franchisement was j)assed upon four freemen, ^ and their 
names struck from the roll, and in case they came armed 
on the island, they were to be disarmed and put under 
bonds for good behavior. Unfortunately the reasons for 
this earliest decree of virtual banishment are not given. 
Three others were suspended the privilege of voting, two ^ 
until they should give satisfaction for their ofieuces, who 
were afterward restored, and Mr. Lenthal, the minister, 
who had returned to England. Amendments and altera- 
tions of laws were constantly made. Only such as were 
permanent or of special interest can here be noticed. 
The fee list was remodelled. Any arms or ammunition 
were forbidden, under heavy fine, to be supplied to the 
Indians. Jurors were elected by the freemen in town 
meeting. Those who were only inhabitants could serve, 

' In the term " general ofBcers," are here inckided the Governor, Deputy 
Governor, the four Assistants and Secretary only. The two Treasurers, two 
Sergeants and two Constables, one of each for each town, are not specified in 
the test, as their duties were mostly local, and the rejictition of so many 
names would be tedious. 

- Richard Carder, Randal Holden, Sampson Shatton and Robert Potter. 



154 HISTOEY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, as well as freemen, on the jury, hj virtue of their freehold 
^_,1^ estates. The pay of the jurors was fixed at one shilling 
1642. f(jr every cause brought to trial. 
IQ ' The island ahoimdcd in wild animals. Deer were 

very abundant and were made a source of revenue ; ever}^ 
man who killed one, except on his own land, being, at 
one time, required to give one half of it into the treasury, 
or to -pRj a commutation of two pounds sterling. Hunt- 
ing parties were sent out to obtain venison for public use 
at the meetings of the Courts. The Indians were not al- 
lowed to kill them, except occasionally by special license, 
nor were traps permitted to be set for them, under a 
penalty of five pounds, exce])t hj the freeliolder on his 
own land, and at a later period they were protected by 
game laws. Foxes gave much trouble. A premium of 
six shillings and eight pence a head was offered for them, 
to be paid by the treasurer of the town where they were 
killed. Wolves were numerous, and so destructive to the 
cattle that men were hired by the day to hunt them, and 
were })aid besides, thirty shillings a head for every one 
killed, v.'hich bounty was soon increased to five pounds, 
and a special tax levied for this purpose, to be paid by 
the farmers in proportion to their number of cattle. 
Eo^er Williams was commissioned to arrange with Mian- 
tinomi for a grand hunt to extirpate them, which, how- 
ever, w^as not so thoroughly done but that, for several 
years, they continued to be a source of annoyance. ' 

The important subject of a charter, which three years 
before had been discussed, was again considered at this 
session, and a committee, composed of the general officers, 
with Mr. Jeflreys, Mr. Harding and Mr. John Clark, 

' Wolves arc often meiitioned in tlie records of Aquediieck, as in Jan., 
1G58, wlieu Portsmouth asked Nc-i\i}ort to aid in driving the island — and 
again on lOtli Nov., 1663, when " the island was to be driven the next fair 
day on accoinit of the destruction of sheep by wolves and other, vermin." 
On the main land they existed much longer, and were repeatedly the subjects 
of legislation by the Assembly, to the close of the centiuy, and even later. 



TRADE OPENED WITH THE DUTCH. 155 

was appointed with full j)ower to act. Actual residence 

on the island was required to entitle any freeman to vote, 

but no one could be disfranchised unless the majority of l J^^^- 

'' "^ Sept. 

the entire body was present at the meeting. Only eleven 19. 

days before this Court convened, the four Pawtuxet men, 
mentioned in the previous chapter, had submitted them- 
selves and their lands to the jurisdiction of Massachusetts. 
An act so dangerous to the independence of the colony, 
and which might be taken as a precedent by other dis- 
aifected persons, could not fail to create much excitement. 
The people of Aquedneck promptly took precaution to 
avoid such a peril to themselves, by adojiting an order 
that no person should sell his lands to any other jurisdic- 
tion, or person therein not subject to -the government of 
the island, on pain of forfeiture. 

Arrangements were made at this time to establish a 
regular trade with the Dutch at Manhattan. It is indic- 
ative of the feeling existing towards Rhode Island in the 
other colonies that she was driven to this step ; a feeling 
of which the most painful evidence was shortly to be given. 
The governor and deputy were instructed to "treat with 
the governor of the Dutch to supply us with neces- 
saries, and to take of our commodities at such mtcs as 
may be suitable." Had there been a sj)irit of kmdncss, 
or even of passive indifference, in place of open hostility, 
in the neighboring provinces, Rhode Island would not 
have been obliged to treat with the foreign and distant 
settlement at New York for the supply of her wants.' 
But the prejudice excited by her different faith, and more 
liberal sentiments, was about to be manifested in an act 
which few men at this day can contemplate without sur- 

' Prior to the arrival of the English the West India Company established 
a trading-post at Dutch Island in Narraganset Bay. Mr. Broadhead says : 
'• About the same time (1625) the Indian title to the island of ' Quotcuis,' 
near the ' Koode Island,' in Narraganset Bay, was secured for the West India 
Company, and a trading-post was estabhshed there, under the superintendence 
of Abraham Pietersen." Broadhead's History of New York, eh. viii. vol. 1, p. 
2G8, and note. Besides this the Dutch had two fortified trading posts on the 
«r:ith sl-ore of NaiTaffanset, in wliat is now Charlestown. 



19. 



156 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

prise and indignation. The exposed condition of the 
country had suggested the idea of a union of all the New 
164 3. England colonies in a league of defence against the In- 
dians. Six years before, just at the close of the Pequot 
war, when the plantation at Providence was in its inflmcy 
and the settlement of Aquedneck had not begun, the sub- 
ject was first considered. Many difficulties served to re- 
tard the consummation, chiefly arising from jealousy in 
the other colcnies of the power or the designs of Massa- 
chusetts. These fears had no good foundation, unless on 
the part of Khode Island, which was the only one that 
did not, at some time during the negotiation, display 
them. We have seen that two years ago she united with 
Plymouth and the two Connecticut colonies in a joint 
letter to Massachusetts, upon the subject that formed the 
basis of the confederacy ; and we have read how those 
overtures were aj^proved as related to the rest, and re- 
pelled with unmanly insult as regarded her. The times 
now demanded immediate action. Fears were entertained 
of the Dutch, especially by Connecticut, while the Indians 
daily threatened a general combination to exterminate 
the whites. They were becoming supplied with fire-arms 
and skilled in their use. The peril was imminent. The 
New England confederacy was formed by Massachusetts, 
^y Plymouth, Connecticut and New Haven, with their sub- 
ordinate settlements, and styled the United Colonies of 
New England. By express stipulation no other jurisdic- 
tion Avas to be admitted. It was mainly a league for 
mutual defence, but contained an article for the rendition 
of fugitive servants and escaped criminals, with some 
other matters of international comity. From some sud- 
denly conceived jealousy on the part of Massachusetts, 
Maine, then a propriety of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, which 
had been included in the preliminary negotiations, was 
not permitted to join the alliance. ' Ehode Island was 

•■ IlubliarJ assigns tlie reason, " bccanse tliey ran a different course from 
tlie rest, liotli in their ministry and tlieir civil administrations. Nor indeed 



EHODE ISLAND REJECTED BY THE LEAGUE. 157 

perhaps tlie most exposed of all the colonies, yet althoug'h ciiAi'. 
the confederated States already owed their existence to .^-,.1^ 
the heroism of her founder, (and were shortly again to li\'^^- 
receive the benefit of that practical Christianity which i^; 
they could not comprehend, in averting for the second 
time a general war, by his effective influence in the 
wavering councils of the Narragansetts,) neither of the 
colonies within her limits was invited to join the league, 
and her subsequent application for that object met with a 
stern refusal. ^ She was left to stand alone amid dangers 
from famine, pestilence and Avar. Her only strength was 
in the valor of her sons and the truth of her principles. 
Had the lex talionis been her guide, as it has been of 
most governments, she would have been justified by the 
necessities to which she was reduced, and might have 
compelled admission to the league, by withdrawing her 
restraining influence from the Indians, It is one of the 
brightest spots in her history that in this dark hour the 
magnanimity of her founder actuated her councils. Turn- 
ing from the ingratitude of the Puritans, she appealed to 

were they at that time furnished with irJiahitants fit for such a purpose, for 
they had lately made Agamentieus (a poor village) a corporation, and had 
made a mean person mayor thereof, and had ako entertained a contentious 
person, and one under offence, for their minister." 2 M. H. C, vi. 467. Yet 
the year before Maine was not considered so unworthy. "Winthi'op's Journal, 
ii. 85. 

^ It would be ungrateful not to acknowledge the grace extended by the 
General Court to the people of Aquedneck, by a vote of Sept. 7th, 1643. 
" They of Aquidneck are granted to buy a barrell of powder, provided Lieut. 
Morris give caution that it bee implied for the defence of the iland by the ad- 
vice of the Governor and Deputy." M. C. R., ii. 44. But even this favor 
was denied to the Providence colony, who were forbidden all trade with Bos- 
ton, even to the purchase of arms and ammunition in this fearful crisis. That, 
after such cruel and ungrateful conduct, Eoger Williams should again inter- 
pose to save the United Colonies, when his own lil'e and those of his friends 
were secure in the love of the Narragansetts, who made a treaty of neutrality 
with them at this very time, reminds us of Gibbon's comment on the conduct 
f Belisarius in a case of domestic infidelity, " the unconquerable patience 
and loyalty of Belisarius appears either below or above the character of a 

MAN." 



158 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP. tJie king. Kogor Williams was sent to England to inter- 
^^,^^ cede for a charter ; and l;)ecaus9 the tyranny of Massa- 
16-i-o. chnsctt.s Bay wonld not relax, he was obliged to take 
' '^^' ■ passage at New York. A free charter was obtained. 
The despised colonies soon assumed the rank of a united 
and independent State, and to the subsequent harshness of 
lier neighbors^ was enabled to oj)pose the language of bold, 
but courteous remonstrance. One of the earliest proceed- 
ings of the league was to sanction the dark deed recorded 
in tlie 2^1'eceding chapter, the murder of Miantinomi, the 
too faithful friend of Ehode Island. 
~ ' The frequent alarms led to the estal)lishment of a 

night watch in Portsmouth, which seems to have per- 
iGi3-t. fected the system of precautions that had so long occu- 
pied the attention of the people. The next General 
March Court changed the name of Aquedneck to the " Isle of 
^'^- Ehodes or Rhode Island." ' The last recorded act of 
the Aquedneck assem]:)ly declared that the majority of 
the major part of the body a])pearing, should have full 
power to transact business, and to impose penalties upon 
those who did not attend, or who left the meeting with- 
16 44. o^^t leave. 

M^y The alarm of Indian war again spread through the 

colonies. A letter from Canonicus and Pessicus was re- 
ceived by Gov. Winthrop, announcing their intention to 
revenge upon Uncas tlie death of Miantinomi. Two 
messeno'crs were sent at once to the Narragansetts to dis- 
suade them, but without effect. The people of Aqued- 
Jttly- neck applied to Massaclmsetts for powder, but were re- 
fused, as Plymouth had been, owing, no doubt, to a 
scarcity of ammunition ; a refusal which Winthrop re- 
Q,. cords as an error of policy, for ''although they were des- 
perately erroneous " it woidd be '' a great advantage to 
the Indians" if they were cut off, "and a great inconve- 
nience to the English should they be forced to seek pro- 

' See note on the origin of this name at the close of chapter ii. 



AQTJEDNECK CLAIMED BY PLYMOUTH. 159 

tection from the Dutch." The commissioners of the cuap. 

United Colonies, at their next meeting, removed the im- , ^;^ 

mediate danger, having summoned the disputants to 10 44. 
Hartford, where an armistice was agreed upon till the 
next year. 

The records of the General Court of Aquedneck now 
cease, and no town records of Newport remain to enlighten 
us on the current events of the next two years. That 
the same general officers, who had already been elected 
three successive years, and whose term of office was " for 
one whole year, or till a new he chosen," continued to 
carry on the government, and that its judicial powers 
were exercised by them as for as was necessary, there can 
be no doubt. The mutilated pages of Portsmouth aid 
somewhat in filling this unwelcome gap, and confirm 
the fact that if no General Courts were convened in this 
interval, town meetings were held in botli the towns, and 
their decrees executed by the general officers. The 
deputy governor and one assistant were authorized to 
appoint all town meetings at Portsmouth. Lea,ve was 
given to Osamequin. or Massasoit, with ten men to kill Aug. 
ten deer within the limits of the town, which were to be 
shown to Mr. Brenton and Mr. Balston, and he was to 
quit the island witliin five daj^s. Several other meetings 
are recorded during this year relating solely to local af- 
fairs. It was at this time that Plymouth colony sent 
a magistrate to Aquedneck to forbid the government Nov. 
there from exercising any authority, and claiming the 
island to be within their jurisdiction, contrary to their 
express admission at the time of the purchase seven years 
before. 

A copy of the instructions given to Mr. John Brown, 
who was commissioned for this purpose, is fortunately 
preserved by Winslow, ' at that time Governor of Ply- 
mouth. These are : 1. That a great part of their sup- 

' Ilypocrisie L^nmasked, 83. 



160 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, posed government is within the line of the government of 
^l Plymoutli. '2. That we assuredly know that this ever to 

16 44. \}Q honored House of Parliament would not, nor will 
g ■ when they shall know it, take from us, the most ancient 
plantation, any part of the lino of our government former- 
ly granted ; it being contrary to their principles. 3. To 
forbid them and all and every one of them to exercise any 
authority, or power of government within the limits of 
our letters patent. 4. To certify them that Coweset is 
not only within the said limits, but that the Sachem 
thereof and his sons have taken protection of this, our gov- 
ernment. And, therefore, to forbid them to enter upon 
any part of his or their lands without due order and leave 
from our government." 

A settled purpose was displayed by the Puritan colo- 
nics, soon after the charter was received by Khode Island, 
to set it aside by every possible plea that could affect its 
validity. The active measures thus taken by Plymouth 
were at the same time pursued, yet more vigorously, if 
indeed they were not directly instigated, by Massachusetts. 
The more liberal Pilgrims were overborne by the dictatorial 
spirit of their Puritan neighbors, and were led to press 
claims which, had they ever existed, were become invali- 
dated by their own acts. Yet this very messenger boldly 
withstood the pretensions of Massachusetts to other parts 
of Khode Island as we shall presently see, and v.'as per- 
haps the only man whose influence coidd have sustained 
the manly position he assimied in behalf of Shawomet. 
Gov. Winslow says, that ]Mr. Brown arrived at Aqucd- 
ncck just as a public meeting was being held to apportion 
lands, a measure disapproved by Mr. Coddington and 
Mr. Brenton, who kept aloof from it, and who ap- 
prehended danger from the lawlessness of the people. 
He states also that Gorton, who after his release from 
prison in Massachusetts, had again settled at Aquedneck, 
was appointed a magistrate and had accepted the ofitice — 



FIRST APPRENTICESHIP IN RHODE ISLAND. 161 

a fact wliicli be adduces as proof that the fears of the chap. 
above-named gentlemen were well grounded. Mr. Brown's ._^,J^ 
mission was futile. Gorton accuses him of privately seek- 1644. 
ing to dissuade the people of the island from recognizing 
the charter. The spirit of his instructions would har- 
monize with almost any means he might employ to fulfil 
them. Winslow says, he performed his duty publicly at 
the meeting. This meeting was probably held in Ports- 
mouth to subdivide the lands there, as was usual at 
that time. No legible record of it, or of any other meet- 
ing for more than a year, remains. 

The fact that a new government was about to be i G 4 5, 
formed under the charter, no doubt led to this evident 
neglect of the old one so soon to expire. That this apathy 
was increasing is apparent from a vote at Portsmouth, y^^^' 
making nine men a quorum at any town meeting, and re- 28. 
quiring that the business to be done should be specified 
in the warning. 

Newport had passed an order that no deer should be Feb. 
killed for two months, which Portsmouth concurred in, ^• 
assigning as the reason that in that way the wolves would 
more readily come to bate and so be caught. At the 
same time it was ordered that of the five pounds bounty 
on each wolf, wliich had been established some years be- 
fore, Newport should pay four and Portsmouth one. An 
act like this could not be valid unless passed by a Gene- 
ral Court or concurred in by a town meeting at Newport. 
A more efficient law for the i)rotection of deer was passed 
at the same meeting, forbidding their being shot in the 
summer, from May to November. 

The most interesting record of this, the last meeting 
of the people of Aquedneck under their primitive gov- 
ernment, contains the first notice of indentured appren- 
ticeship in Khode Island. " Memorandum : That where- 
as, Nicholas Niles, the father-in-law of Abell Potter, hath 
[bound him] the said Abell Potter with Mr. William 

VOL. I. — 11 



162 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND, 

CHAP. Balstone for tlie term of eighteen years, witli tlie consent 
,_^ of the said Abell, For the better securitie off Mr. Bal- 
16 47. stone, the towne consenteth herein and approveth thereof." 
29^ The three months that intervened before the first 

General Assembly of the now chartered State convened 
at Portsmouth we may suppose was employed in discuss- 
ing the all absorbing topic, and in the preparation of that 
admirable code of laws then to be presented for adoption. 



THE FOUNDER OF WARWICK. 163 



CHAPTER VI. 

HISTORY OF WARWICK AND NARRAGANSET DOWN TO THE 
FORMATION OF THE GOVERNMENT UNDER THE FIRST PA- 
TENT, MAY, 164*7. 

Warwick was settled some years later than Trovi- chap. 
dence and Aquedneck, and chiefly by emigrants from ~.^^,.L^ 
them ; but the same primitive cause, the intolerance 
of Massachusetts, forced most of its founders into banish- 
ment, while their peculiar views, differing from those of 
the other Rhode Island settlers, influenced them in select- 
ing another spot for their resting place. No man has suf- 
fered more in reputation from the calumny of his enemies, 
or been made to feel more severely the penalty of non- 
conformity, or the trials of an independent spirit, than 
Samuel Gorton, the founder of Warwick. " A most pro- 
digious minter of exorbitant novelties," "a proud and 
pestilent seducer," " a beast," " miscreant " and " arch 
heretic," are some of the epithets with which he has been 
branded by the malevolence of his age. It was in vain, 
in those days, that any dissenter from the established 
church of Massachusetts strove to deny whatever results 
the authorities saw fit to ascribe to his views. The fate 
of Williams and of Clark, was sure to be his. There was 
no reason why the Gortonists should be treated any better 
than the Anabaptists or the Antinomians had been, or 
than the Quakers were soon to be. The same power that 
had driven Williams into exile and had disarmed the fol- 
lowers of Mrs. Hutchinson, was ready to vindicate its 



164 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, superiority upon the sturdy spirit of Gorton. In 1636, 
_J^ Gorton arrived at Boston from London. But little is 
16 3 6. known of his earlier history, and that little is of no im- 
portance to our present purjiose. He soon removed to 
Plymouth, ^Yhere "he gave some hopes that he would 
jirove a useful instrument." These hopes were soon dis- 
pelled by the wayward and. independent spirit which he 
manifested. Cotton assigns as the reason of his leaving 
Boston that it was to escape from the claims of a creditor 
in Eno'land. Hubbard and Mather, with their accus- 
tomed bitterness, repeat the charge, but more reliable 
historians are silent upon it, and its truth has been 
reasonably doubted, from the fact that a removal to Ply- 
mouth would not secure him from arrest. It soon ap- 
peared that his religious views were widely at variance 
from those of his associates. The key note of a persecu- 
tion that vvas destined to pursue him for many years, even 
beyond the chartered grasp of civilized man, was early 
sounded by one Mr. Ealph Smith, who had formerly been 
a minister at Plymouth, and a part of whose house Gor- 
ton had hired for four years. Some of Smith's household 
were in the habit of attending the morning and evening 
religious service held by Gorton in his family, Avhich dis- 
pleased the former. Gorton refused to vacate the prem- 
ises. The only mode of ejecting him was by an appeal 
to the popular bigotry through the medium of the Court. 
Opportunity was not wanting in the case of one so pecu- 
liar in his views and so fearless in expressing them. What 
was the form of the action brought by Smith, or the na- 
ture of the charge against Gorton, is not distinctly stated, 
but the result was that the contract was broken, he was 
ordered to provide for himself elsewhere within a certain 
time, and to give bonds for his good behavior in the in- 
terval. A more serious breach of order was shortly al- 
leo-ed aa'ainst him. A female servant in Gorton's family 
was seen to smile in church. To escape the proceedings 



PROCEEDINGS AGAINST GORTON. 165 

wliicli threatened in consequence of tliis overt act against chap. 
tlie peace and dignity of the State, the woman fled to the ^^...^.L^ 
woods. Gorton spoke in her hehalf, for which he was 10 3 7. 
called to account by the Court, where, conducting him- 
self in a very rude and contemptuous manner, his bonds 
were forfeited, he was bound over to the next General 
Court, and required to find new sureties for his conduct 
till that time. He obtained the sureties but immediately 
left for Aquedneck. Morton mentions only the difiBculty 
with Smith, and assigns this as the cause of his banish- 
ment, which he says was decreed on the fourth of Decem- 
ber 1638, to take place within fourteen days. Winslow 
and Gorton himself, both correct the error of fact, while 
other circumstances make it equally apparent that there 

is also an error of date. Six months before the time of 

16 3 8 
his banishment, as given by Morton, Gorton was admitted June 

an inhabitant of Aquedneck, as the records show. It is -^■ 
probable that the date in Morton should be one year 
earlier, and that the sentence of banishment within four- 
teen days was passed at a later court than the one in De- 
cember. The difiiculty with the Court, in the case of the 
servant woman, happened after that with Smith, and is 
not referred to by Morton. Peiliaps the Smith case was 
tried in December 1637, and the subsequent one at the 
nest March term. Very soon after the latter trial, all 
accounts agree that he went to Aquedneck, where a set- 
tlement had just been commenced by the Antinomian 
refugees. The Massachusetts writers, while they freely 
denounce the heresies of Gorton, deny that these were 
the cause of his banishment. There can be no doubt that 
the charge brought by Smith, in the first instance, for the 
purpose of annulling the lease and thus ridding himself 
of a disagreeable tenant, was that of heresy, and the in- 
ference is equally direct that the truth of the allegation 
had aroused popular feeling against the accused. The 
evidence is equally plain that his conduct, when on trial, 



166 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, was most nLiisive and his language insulting to the Court, 
_I_i^ so much so that " divers people being present desired 
1 G 3 8. leave of the Governor to speak complaining of his sedi- 
tious carriage, and requested the Court not to suffer these 
abuses but to inflict condign punishment." That he was 
deeply imbued with the principles of " soul liberty " al- 
ready established by Roger Williams, and indignantly 
repelled any attempt to fetter the free mind in its com- 
munion with the Creator, is so much in his favor, and at 
this day will go far towards exculpating his conduct at 
Plymouth. 

In fact, it was on this account that he was warmly 
received at Af|uedneck, and ever since, his name has been 
associated in this State, with those v.%ose first coming 
hither was caused by Puritan persecution. That he af- 
terwards so severely suffered from this cause has tended 
to confirm this opinion. But on the other hand, the 
minute account of his offensive bearing towards the Court 
is so consistent with the repulsive traits of his character, 
as afterwards displayed at Portsmouth, and still later at 
Providence, in a more dangerous degree, causing his ban- 
ishment from Aquedneck, and his flight to Pawtuxet, that 
we are forced to believe him not to be so guiltless in his 
course at Plymouth as his defenders allege. This was 
indeed one of those common cases where neither party in 
a contest is altogether right, and in our view of it the 
plea of persecution cannot cover his errors until a later 
period of his history. Up to this time there is enough of 
wrong apparent on both sides to excuse in some measure 
the conduct of each, according as the sympathies of the 
writer may incline him to either party. 

We might think more favorably of Gorton's course at 
Plymouth, had not his avowed principles, and his acts in 
accordance therewith, been so outrageous as not to be 
borne by the people of Aquedneck ; beside which we know 
that the Plymouth colony was more liberal in its feeling 



PROCEEDINGS AGAINST GORTON. 167 

than that of the Bay, permitting a greater latitude of in- chap. 

dividual opinion. Assuming as above that the sentence ^^ 

of banishment was passed upon him in March, he must 16 3 8. 

have reached Aquedneck very soon after the settlement of 

Pocasset commenced. His name appears the seventh on 

the list of fifty-nine inhabitants in October, with that of 

his companion John Wickes, who, Morton says, was one 

of his earliest proselytes at Plymouth ; and henceforth 

their fortunes were closely united. As an evidence of the 

distinction in which he was held at that time, it may be 

stated that his is one of only four names on the list to 

which Mr., used in that day as a special mark of respect, 

is affixed. The date appended to these names is that of 

their admission as inhabitants, not that of their coming 

to the island, which must have occurred somewhat ear- 

her. But the time of his arrival at Aquedneck is a point 

of little moment compared with the history of his conduct 

while there. That he Was whipped and banished from 

the island has been doubted, ^ because the State records 

contain no notice of the fact. The evidence, however, is 

too strong to permit us to doubt it. That it is not found 

on the records is simply because judicial proceedings were 

not entered there. But few of the court trials of that 

day are preserved. Incidental references to them appear 

occasionally on the State archives, as in the ease of 

Wickes, the earliest disciple and constant companion of i6 42. 

Gorton. The day after the four men, ^ who were after- March 

'' ' . 16. 

wards among the first settlers of Warwick, were disfran- 

cliised, it was ordered that if they, with John Wickes, 

should come upon the island armed, the constable was to 

disarm and take them before a magistrate, " Provided 

that this order hinder not the course of law already begun 

with J. Wickes ; " by which it appears that Wickes had 17. 

' Judge Eddy iu Wiutlirop ii. 58, note, aud Staple's Simplicities Defence, 
10. 

- Richard Carder, Raudiil Holder, Sampson Sliatton and Robert Potter. 



168 HISTOKY OF THE STATE OF KHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, previously got into trouble and left the island — a virtual 
^J[j^ banishment, although no record of any proceedings against 
1 G 3 8, him, and no sentence of disfranchisement is found, any 
more than there is against Gorton. It is probable that 
boih were involved at the same time, and that had the 
Court files been preserved, the judicial punishment pro- 
nounced against both, of whij^ping and banishment, would 
there be found. Lechford, who resided in New England 
" almost for the space of four years," prior to August, 
1641, relates the circumstances ; Winthrop and Morton 
both refer to them, and Gorton himself not only does not 
deny the facts, but, so far as he refers to his sufferings 
prior to the settlement of Warwick, corroborates their 
truth, speaking of " fines, whippings and banishment out 
of all their jurisdiction," as suffered by himself and his 
associates. The most positive and detailed evidence in 
regard to his conduct and treatment at Aquedneck, is 
given by Winslow, in an ofiicial form, as agent for Mas- 
sachusetts, replying to Gorton's Simplicities Defence. ' 
There can be no doubt of the truth of the statements 
there officially promulgated, however much we may dis- 
sent from the author's inferences. That Winslow and 
Gorton were on good terms personally at the time of its 
publication, although both were in England engaged in 
conflicting business pertaining to the Warwick settlement, 
and that Gorton never read but little of it, aj^pears by his 
letter to Morton. - Had the official documents been false 
he would certainly have seen them and denied their truth, 
instead of quoting the indefinite remark of a third per- 
son " that he would maintain that there were forty lies 
printed in that book." The contempt expressed by Gor- 

' Hypocrisie Uumaskcil. By EJw. Winslow, Londou, 1G4G. 4to., 103 
pp. Published by Authority, and Dedicated to Robert, Earl of Warwick. It 
is an extremely rare work. The writer examined the copy in the British 
Museum, and since then the " sole duplicate " of that copy, which is now in 
the splendid library of John Carter Bro'mi, Esq., of Providence. 

^ Hi;tchiuson's Massachusetts, i. 552 Ap. xx. 



Gorton's views of goveenment. 169 

ton for the governmeut of Aquedneck as being self-con- chap. 
stituted, is of itself sufficient explanation of the source .^Jl^ 
whence his troubles arose, while the charges preferred 16 3 9 
against him by the grand-jury of Portsmouth justify the 
punishment he received. He says he conducted himself 
'' obediently to the government of Plimouth, so farre as it 
became me at least, for I understood that they had com- 
ission wherein authoritie was derived, which authoritie I 
reverenced ; but Ehode Island at that time had none, 
therefore no authoritie legally derived to deale with me. 
Neither had they the choice of the people, but set up 
themselves. I know not any more that was present in 
their creation but a clergie man who blessed them in their 
inauguration, and I thought my selfe as fitt and able to 
governe my selfe and family, as any that were then upon 
Rhode Island." That he ignored aU civil authority at 
Aquedneck he here admits, and gives his reasons for it, 
thinking himself " as fit and able to govern himself and 
family, as any that were then upon Rhode Island." 
This spirit could not long exist in harmony with 
the views of the settlers anywhere in this State, for 
although there was no law religion here, there was an 
organized government demanding respect for its ofiScers, 
and obedience to its statutes. The views of Gorton, as 
above given in his own words, were too much like those 
which the Puritan calumniators of Williatas and Clarke 
charged as being held by their associates, that they " de- 
nied all magistracy and churches." The banishment of 
Gorton refutes the slander. And yet Gorton did not 
deny aU magistracy, but only the right of the people to 
set up for themselves a form of government. After the 
charter was received, his mind was relieved upon this 
point. Meanwhile it was the constant source of trouble 
to himself, and of annoyance to his neighbors. 

The origin of his difficulty at Portsmouth, as stated 1G40 
by Winslow, was a trespass by a cow belonging to an old 



170 HISTOEY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, woman, upon some land owned by Gorton. The woman, 
_,^,;^ while driving off her cow, was assaulted by a servaut- 
16 4 0. maid of Gorton's, and complained to the deputy governor, 
Nicholas Easton, who had the maid brought before the 
court. Gorton appeared in her behalf, refusing to allow 
her to come to court. One of the witnesses called for the 
defence, gave testimony strongly the other way, which 
enraged Gorton, who commenced abusing her, and had 
his friend John Wickes brought to the stand. Wickes 
refused to be sworn. Gorton sustained him in the refusal, 
and both insulted the court. At length the Governor 
summed up the case to the jury. While doing this, Gor- 
ton was very abusive to the governor and deputy, inter- 
rupting the former in his charge, insomuch that " many 
of the freemen present desired the court not to suffer such 
insolencies." He was committed, and when the Marshal 
was ordered to take him to prison, he cried out that Cod- 
dington should be taken. Wickes, Holden and others, 
made so much disturbance, that an armed guard was sum- 
moned to clear the way, and Wickes was put into the 
stocks. After this affair, Gorton was indicted by the 
grand jury as a nuisance, upon fourteen separate counts. 
A copy of this remarkable joresentment signed by the 
Secretary of the Colony, is given by Winslow, ^ as fol- 
lows : 

''The sum of the presentment of Samuel Gorton, at 
Portsmouth, in Rhode Island, by the Grand Jury. 

First, that Samuel Gorton, certaine days before his ap- 
pearance at this Court, said, the Government was such 
as was not to be subjected unto, forasmuch as it had not 
a true derivation, because it was altered from what it 
first was. 

2. That Samuel Gorton contumeliously reproached 
the Magistrates, calling them Just Asses. 

3. That the said Gorton reproachfully called the 

■■ Hypocrisie Unmasked, p. 54-5. 



INDICTMENT AGAINST GORTON. 171 

judges, or some of the justices on the Bench, (corrupt chap. 
judges) in open Court. -^-r-^ 

4. That the said Gorton questioned the Court for 1640. 
making him to wait on them two days formerly, and that 

now hee would know whether hee should bee tryed in an 
hostile way, or hy law, or in sobriety. 

5. The said Gorton alleged in open court, that he 
looked at the Magistrates as Lawyers, and called Mr. 
Easton, Lawyer Easton. 

6. The said Gorton charged the Deputy Governor to 
be an Abetter of a Kiot, Assault, or Battery, and pro- 
fessed that he would not touch him, no, not with a pair 
of tongs : Moreover, he said, I know not whether thou 
hast any ears or no : as also, I think thou knowest not 
where thy ears stand, and charged him to be a man unfit 
to make a warrant. 

7. The said Gorton charged the Bench for wresting 
witnesse, in this expression, I profess you wrest witnesse, 

8. The said Gorton called a Freeman in open Court 
(saucy boy and Jack-an-Apes), and said the woman that 
was upon her oath, would not speak against her mother, 
although she was damned where she stood. 

9. The said Gorton affirmed that Mr. Easton behaved 
himself not like a judge, and that himself was charged 
either basely or falsely. 

10. The said Gorton said to the Bench : Ye intrude 
oathes, and goe about to catch me. 

11. The said Gorton being reproved for his miscar- 
riage, held up his hand, and with extremity of speech 
shooke his hand at them, insomuch that the Freemen 
present said, He threatens the Court. 

12. The said Gorton charged the Court with acting 
the second part of Plymouth magistrates, who, as he said, 
condemned him in the chimney corner, ere they heard 
him speak. 



172 HISTOKY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

13. The said Gorton, in open court did professe to 
maintaine the qnarrell of another, being his maid- servant. 
1 G40. 14. The said Gorton being commanded to prison, im- 

periously resisted the authority, and made open procla- 
macion, saying, take away Coddington, and carry him to 
prison ; the Governor said again, all you that owne the 
King, take away Gorton and carry him to prison ; Gor- 
ton replyed, all you that own the King, take away Cod- 
dington, and carry him to prison. 

William Dyre, Secretary." 

Gorton was tried, and sentenced to be whipped and 
March, ijanished from the island, upon which he threatened an 
appeal to King Charles. The sentence was executed 
forthwith, and Gorton went to Providence. This was 
when " the weather was very cold,'' probably in March, 
as a few months later we find, by a letter from Koger 
1.' Williams to Gov. Wintlirop, that he was " bewitching 
and bemadding poor Providence." • His reckless and 

' This letter fixes the time of Gorton's being in Providence earlier by more 
than a year than any other known data. It is as follows : " Providence, 8th 
1st, IGIO. Master Gorton having abused high and low at Aqiiidnick, is 
now bewitching and bemadding poor Providence, both with his imcleane and 
foul censures of all the ministers of this coimtry (for which myself have in 
Christ's name withstood him), and also denying all visible and externall or- 
dinances in depth of Familisme, against which I have a little disputed and 
written, and shall (the most High assenting), to death. As Paul said of Asia, 
I of Providence (almost) all suck in his poyson, as at first they did at Aquid- 
nick. Some few and myself withstand his inhabitation, aud town privileges, 
without confession and reformation of his imcivil and inhuman practises at 
Portsmouth : Yet the tide is too strong against us, and I feare (if the framer 
of hearts helpe not) it will force me to little Patience, a little isle nest to 
your Prudence. Jehovah himself be pleased to be a sanctuary to all whose 
hearts are perfect with him ; in him I desire unfeignedly to be. Your wor- 
ship's true and affectionate Pi,oger AVilliams." — Winslow's Ht/poci-lsie Unmasked, 
55,56. 

The trial of Gorton could not have been in 1G39, as Hutchinson was that 
year the Judge at Portsmouth, where the indictment was found. Codding- 
ton and Easton, the latter residing at Portsmouth, were chosen Governor 
and Deputy Governor, on 12th March, 1040, on the union of the two towns. 



POLITICAL CHAKACTER OF GOKTON. 173 

lawless spirit, opposed as mucli to magistrates constituted, chap. 
lilie those of Rhode Island, by the popular will, as to ^^ 
ministers supported by law, like those of the other colonies, 10 40. 
found a fitting arena for its exercise in the feeble and dis- 
tracted plantation of Pro^^.dence. A bitter 23artisan by na- 
ture, with talent and energy to consolidate and control 
discordant elements into a vigorous and relentless opposi- 
tion, he soon made himself the leader of all who were 
factious or discontented, and organized a destructive and 
revolutionary party in the hitherto comparatively peace- 
ful settlement of Williams. The career of Gorton in 
Rhode Island illustrates how completely the extremes 
of conservatism and radicalism in civil affairs may unite 
in a single mind. While on religious matters he main- 
tained with Williams the great doctrine of the underived 
independence of the soul, in civil concerns he was an ab- 
solutist, a stickler for authority, yielding, theoretically at 
least, entire obedience to chartered power, but ignoring 
any other, and steadily denying the right of the people of 
Aquedneck or Providence to govern themselves, and 
hence refusing to be controlled by them. And because 
of this defect in the basis of their government he used 
every eifort to weaken or destroy it, assuming for that 
object the attitude of the veriest leveller recorded in his- 
tory. His disorderly course in Providence was such as to 
prevent his being received as an inhabitant. It was re- 
quired, as a condition of his reception, that he should 
confess the wrong he had done at Portsmouth and promise 
reformation, which we presume to mean, that he should 
admit the error of his theory of government. So great 
was the contention caused by his presence, that Mr. Wil- 
liams seriously thought of abandoning his plantation and 
removing to Patience Island. The next year matters 

Gorton was in Providence in Oct., 1640, and had been there some time. The 
weather was cold when he went there, which must therefore have been early 
in the spring, after the 12th March, or in April, 1640. 



174 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

grew worse. The refusal of the first application of Gor- 
ton and his associates to be received into town fellowship 
did not discourage them. A second attempt was made, 
upon which "William Arnold, then one of the five " dis- 
l^osers," to whom such aiiplications were referred, ad- 
dressed a letter, " To the rest of the five men appointed 
to manedge ye affaires of our Town," giving reasons based 
upon the weak condition of the town, why this further re- 
quest should be denied. These were, that Gorton had 
" showed himself an insolent, railing and turbulent per- 
son," since, as well as before he came to Providence ; that 
some of his company had insulted the disposers ; that 
their former request had been refused aud no new reasons 
advanced why this should be granted ; that they had dis- 
tracted and divided the town into jiarties, aiming to drive 
away its founders, and had been ringleaders in breaking 
the peace ; and finally he denies that any element of per- 
secution is contained in a refusal to admit into a civil so- 
ciety men so turbulent. He concludes by offering his 
house and land for sale to the town, as the law required, 
stating that if these men are received he shall sell and 
move away.' Not long after this a riot ensued in which 

■^]^7 * some blood was spilt, and the aid of Massachusetts 
was invoked by some of the inhabitants.- Gorton and 
his company moved to Pawtuxet soon after this affair, 

10 42. -vvliere their conduct induced four of the principal residents 

8. ' to submit themselves and their lands to the government 

of Massachusetts." The " warrant," as Gorton terms it, 

issued by Massachusetts on this occasion, ^ greatly alarmed 

' IIj'jTOcrisie Unraaskcil, 59-62. New England Gen. Register, 21G-18. 

- See ante, chap, iv., pp. 110-111. 

^ " Massachusetts to our neighbors of Providence : '\Maereas, Wm. Arnold 
of Pawtuxet, and Robert Cole and others, have lately put themselves and 
their families, lands and estates, under the protection and government of this 
jurisdiction, and have since complained to iis, that you have smce (upon pre- 
tence of a late purchase from the Indians), gone about to deprive them of 
their lawful interest, confirmed by four years possession, and otherwise to mo- 



PURCHASE OF SHAWOMET. 175 

his party, and drew from tliem a letter, addressed " To chap 
our neighbors of Massachusetts," signed by nearly all of — -.-^^ 
them, which afterwards caused them much trouble. In \^ 
this letter they justly call the document " an irregular 20. 
note," " because it went beyond the bounds and jurisdic- 
tions limited unto them." They then discuss the sub- 
mission of the Pawtuxet men, of which the " warrant " 
was simply a formal notification, denying the claim of 
Massachusetts to extend her jurisdiction beyond her char- 
tered limits on account of any such act, whether done by 
English or Indians. The complaints of the submission- 
ists are fully discussed and their conduct harslily reviewed. 
The iuvitation to implead them in the courts of Massa- 
chusetts is duly considered and dechned in terms of unspar- 
ing severity. Through the whole j^rotracted epistle there 
is interwoven a mass of abtruse theology, and a parade of 
biblical learning, of which the application is often difficult 
to discover, and the chief object of which is to hurl upon 
those to whom it is addressed a storm of theological in- 
vective. None but a mystical enthusiast could have 
written it, and he must be a zealous antiquary in these 
days, who would read it.' The bitter rebuke that it con- 
tained rankled in the minds of the magistrates, and the 
heresy they detected in its doctrines soon afforded a pretext 
for their vengeance. Soon after this letter was written 
the Gortonists left Pawtuxet, and purchasing of the In- 
dians lands at Shawomet, beyond the limits of Providence, 

lest them ; we thought good therefore to write to you on theLr behalf, to give 
you notice that they and their lands, &c., being under our jurisdiction, we are 
to maintain them in their lawful rights. If, therefore, you have any just ti- 
tle to any thing they possess, you may proceed against them in our com't, 
where you shall have equal justice ; but, if you shall proceed to any violence, 
you must not blame us if we shall take a like course to right them." Signed, 
Jo. Wiuthrop, Governor. Tho. Dudley, Ri. Belhngham, Incr. Nowell. The 
•.^8th of the 8th month, 1642. Simp. Defence, 53. 

^ This letter occupies nearly one-fifth of Winslow's book, and twenty-six 
closely printed pages, 60-86, of Staple's Simp. Defence R. I. H. C, v. 2. 



176 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 



removed to the wilderness, where English charter, or civil- 
ized claim, could legally pursue them no longer. 

There were twelve purchasers, but eleven of whom 
are recited in the deed.^ The tract extended along the 
bay from Gaspee point to Warwick neck and twenty miles 
inland, embracing the greater part of the present town- 
ships of Warwick and Coventry. The consideration was 
one hundered and forty-four fathoms of wampum peage.^ 
The land was conveyed by Miantinomi, chief Sachem of 
the Narragansets and hereditary lord of the soil, and the 
deed was witnessed by Pomham, tlie local Sachem of 
Shawomet, with others. 

No form of government seems to have been adopted. 
Their numbers were too small to require an organization. 
Some mode of adjusting differences was all they needed, 
and this was provided for by arbitration, which was the 
essential feature of the government of Providence. This 
was only a temporary arrangement to continue until a 
charter could be obtained from England. Had they re- 
mained unmolested until the settlement attained greater 
size, and no charter had been received, it would have been 
curious to see what method they could devise to secure 
social order without violating their fundamental principles. 
But this experiment was not to be tried. Scarcely had 
the settlement of Warv/ick begun when a fresh occasion 
of strife w^as presented, arising from the dissatisfaction of 
the natives, fomented, as there is too much reason to be- 
lievCj by the intrigues of Massachusetts. At the tirst 
meeting of the General Court a committee of three, one 
of wdiom was William Arnold of Pawtuxet, who had re- 



1643. 



' They were Randal Holden, Jolm Greene, John Weeks (or Wickes), Fran- 
cis Weston, Samuel Gorton, Richard Waterman, Jolm Warner, Richard Car- 
der, Samson Shattou, Rohert Potter, William Wiiddall, and Nicholas Power. 
The latter is not named in the deed, but we learn from his letters that he was 
one of the purchasers, and Gorton mentions that there were twelve. 

- Equivalent to £12 sterling, if black peage is meant, or half that sum if 
the payment was to be in white. 



SUBMISSION OF THE SACHEMS TO MASSACHUSETTS. 177 

cently submitted to Miissacliusetts, "was sent to Warwick chap 
" to understand how things were," and to bring back with ^^^^ 
them a certain Indian if possible • On the same day the 16 43. 
magistrates and certain deputies were appointed a com- ^\{ 
mittee to treat with the Sachems of Warwick and Paw- 
tuxet about their submission, " and to warn any to desist Jm't' 
wliich shall disturb them." The next month Pomham, 
with Soconoco, Sachem of Pawtuxet, submitted themselves 
and their lands to the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, de- 
nied having assented to the sale of Warwick, or having 
received any portion of the payment, and by this act of 
submission afforded another pretext, of which their ene- 
mies at once availed themselves, to harass the unhappy 
Gortonists in this their last retreat. The proceedings that 
followed are so extraordinary, that we are led to examine 
closely the motives and the means employed by the Gen- 
eral Court. 

Gorton was beyond the reach of any English jurisdic- 
tion. Having left Pawtuxet, he was no longer a tres- 
passer on the lands of the proteges of Massachusetts. 
Some new pretext must be found to secure their object. 
A submission of the Warwick Sachem would furnish it, 
claiming, as Massachusetts always did, that an act of 
submission to their government by any party extended 
their jurisdiction over the lands of such partj^ Gorton 
had purchased Shawomet of its undoubted lord. The at- 
tempt of Pomham to deny the sale is, to say the least, 
suspicious. The witnesses on this point, at the General 
Court, were deeply interested parties. Arnold had bought 
land of Soconoco, the Pawtuxet Sachem, a short time be- 
fore, and the validity of his title depended on establishing 
the independence of his grantor. The Pawtuxet men 
were bitter against Gorton, and naturally desirous to 
please their new and self-imposed rulers. They were pro- 
minent, if not the instigators, in the whole matter. The 
Narraganset empire was rapidly falling. Massasoit had 

' M. C. R., ii. ?,5. 
VOL. I 12 



178 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, availed himself of an English alliance to sever his allegi- 

VT 

^.^^.^ auce to the Narragansets, and the petty Sachems of Paw- 
1 G4 3. tiixct and Shawomet wished to follow his example. Eng- 
lish ambition assisted their design. Miantinomi was 
shorn of his vassals by the act of the General Court in 
receiving their submission, as a few months later he was 
deprived of his life by a like interested tribunal. The 
motive in all this is barely concealed. At the time of the 
submissiun of the Pawtuxet men, Wiuthrop honestly gave 
as one reason for accepting it, that it would furnish them 
" an outlet into the Narraganset bay ; " an object wliicli 
Massachusetts kept steadily in view, and which furnishes 
a key to this dark intrigue. One other motive animated 
rhe actors in the coming drama. The heretics yet lived, 
and the sting of their last impolitic, although truthful, 
letter could only be assuaged by their blood. Territorial 
ambition, religious bigotry, and wounded pride, all united 
to demand their persecution, and for the time, blinded 
their assailants to the illegality, the injustice, and the 
dishonesty of the means employed to accomplish their 
Sept. end. At the next General Court active measures were 
' ■ taken to follow up this scheme to its consummation. The 
JO Comissioners of the United Colonies were in session, the 
same day, at Boston. The case of Gorton was referred 
to them and their assent obtained, in advance, to what- 
ever course Massachusetts might see tit to adopt.' A 
letter, or warrant as Gortun again terms it, similar to the 
one sent on the submission of the Pawtuxet men, was 
written to the }>urchasers of Shawomet, informing them 
of the submission and the compLiints of the Sachems, re- 
quiring them to appear at once before the court, where 
the plaintiffs were then present, and granting them a safe 
conduct for that purpose. A verbal rejjly by the messen- 
ger was returned to the court denying their jurisdiction, 
and rightly asserting that they were amenable only to the 

' Ilyfiocrisie Unmusked, p. 79, where the Act of the Commissioners is 
Tmlilishcd. 



Gorton's letters to Massachusetts. 179 

government of Old England from which they expected chap. 
" in due season to receive direction for their well ordering ,__^I_ 
in all civil respects." A lengthy letter was also sent, ad- 164 3. 
dressed " To the great idol Greneral now set np in Massa- 15^ " 
chnsetts/' signed by E. Holden, if possible more bitter from 
a sense of accumulated wrong, than that of November 
previous. In this letter they denounce the conduct of 
Pumham and forbid his return to Shawomet ; they com- 
plain of outrages committed by the Indians under the 
shield of Massachusetts, and refer to two rumored threats, 
uttered by subjects of that government, which foreshadow 
the crimes that were to follow— one, that Miantinomi 
should die because he had sold Shawomet to Gorton, the 
other that the Gortonists should be subdued or driven off 
even at the cost of blood. The proposal to attend the 
court, and the offer of safe conduct for that purpose, are 
rejected with scorn. An array of charges are next brought 
aa'ainst the two sachems, and a demand is made that the 
Massachusetts should come to Warwick and answer them. 
A postscript refers to their treatment of Mrs. Hutchinson, 
news of whose massacre had lately been received, and for 
which they are held morally responsible. The letter, as 
usual, is full of scriptural allusions disparaging those to 
whom it is addressed. The General Court could have 
expected no other reply than one that would increase the 
rancor engendered by the former letter. These two let- 
ters were furnished to Winslow, and form the chief evi- 
dence against Gorton, published in his official reply to 
Simplicities Defence. They give occasion for " certaine 
observations collected by a godly and reverend divine," 
classed under three heads : 

1. Their reproachful and reviling speeches of the gov- 
ermncnt and magistrates of Massachusetts. 

2. Their reviling language against magistracy itself 
and all civil power. 



180 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND. 

3. Their blasi)liemoiis speeches against tlie holy things 
of God. 

Gorton says they " framed out of them twenty-six 
particulars, or thereabouts, which they said were blasphe- 
mous, changing of phrases, altering in words or sense ; 
not in any one of them taking the true intent of our 
writings ; " and it is certain, by Winthrop's account of the 
trial, that whatever may have been the real cause of hos- 
tility towards Gorton, his heresy was the ostensible reason 
of their severity. 

The court immediately disjoatched another letter, ac- 
19. ceding to the demand of the Warwick men that Massa- 
chusetts should send to them, and informing them that 
they should shortly send commissioners to obtain satisfac- 
tion ; adding, that an armed guard would attend the 
commission, and closing with the assurance " that if you 
will make good your own offer to us of doing us right, 
our people shall return and leave you in peace, otherwise 
we must right ourselves and our people by force of arms." 
The following week Capt. Cooke, Lieut. Atherton, and 
Edward Johnson with forty soldiers were sent to War- 
wick. On their way to Providence they received a 
third letter from the " owners and inhabitants of Shaw- 
omet," informing them tliat their oifer to Massachusetts 
-8. was a peaceable and not a warlike one, and warning them 
upon their jieril not to invade Warwick. To this the 
commissioners replied that they desired to speak with the 
men of Warwick, to lead tliem, if possible, to see their 
misdeeds and repent, but if they failed in that they should 
" look upon them as men prepared for slaughter," and 
would proceed accordingly. This outrageous missive 
spread terror in the humble settlement of Shawomet. The 
women and chiklren tied for their hves, some to the woods 
and others in boats to gain the neighboring plantations. 
The men fortified a house and there awaited their assail- 
ants. A number of Providence men accompanied the 



FUTILE ATTEMPTS AT RECONCILIATION. 181 

troops to see what would be done, and to aid in effecting chap. 
a peaceable adjustment of tlie difficulty. A parley was .^_,_i_ 
proposed. Four Providence men were selected as wit- 1^6 43. 
nesses thereto. The commissioners briefly stated their os.' 
case ; that the Gortonists had wronged some of the Mas- 
sachusetts subjects, and that they held certain blasphe- 
mous errors of which they must repent or be carried to 
Boston for trial, or otherwise be put to the sword, and 
their goods seized to defray the charges of the expedition. 
From this proposition the owners of Shawomet dissented, 
on the ground that their adversaries would thus become 
their judges, but offered to appeal to England, which was 
refused. The Grortonists then proposed to refer the dis- 
pute to arbitration, offering their persons and property as 
security that they would abide by the decision of impar- 
tial men mutually chosen for the purpose. This seemed 
so reasonable that a truce was agreed upon until a mes- 
senger could be sent to Massachusetts to learn the views 
of the magistrates. The Grortonists charge the troops 
with many outrages during this truce, which are stoutly 
denied by Winslow. The four Providence witnesses ' sent ^^^^^• 
a letter to Grov. Winthrop giving an account of the par- 
ley, and entreating him to accept the proposal of arbitra- 
tion. " Oh, how grievous would it bo (we hope to you) 
if one man should be slain, considering the greatest mon- 
arch in the world cannot make a man ; especially grievous 
seeing they offer terms of peace," is the earnest language 
they employ. The commissioners also wrote a letter. A 
committee of the General Court happened to be con- 
vened, upon news of the murder of Miantinomi, when 
these letters were received. The elders, as usual, were 
consulted. The result was Avhat we might anticipate 
from such a tribunal. It was " agreed that it was neither 
seasonable or reasonable, neither safe nor honorable, for 

' They were Chad. Brown, Thomas Ohiey, William Field, William Wick- 
enden. Simp. Defence, 108. 



182 HISTOEY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

US to accept of sucli a proposition. 1. Because tliey 
would never ofi'er us any terms of peace "before we had 
sent our soldiers. 2. Because the ground of it was false, 
for we were not parties in the case between the Indians 
and them, hut the proper judges, they being all within 
our jurisdiction by the Indians and English their own 
grant. 3. They were no State, but a few fugitives living 
without law or government, and so not lionorable for us to 
join with them in such a course. 4. The parties whom 
they would refer it unto were such as were rejected by us, 
and all the governments in the country, and besides, not 
men likely to be equal to us, or able to judge of the 
cause. 5. Their blasphemous and reviling writings, etc., 
were not matters fit to be compounded by arbitrament, 
but to be purged away only by repentance and public 
satisfaction, or else by public pimishment. And lastly, 
the commission and instructions being given them by the 
General Court, it was not in our power to alter them." ' 
Gov. Winthrop rej^lied to the Providence letter, declining 
arbitration. The commissioners were directed to proceed 
at once. They notified the besieged that the truce had 
expired. A final effort was made to speak with the 
commissioners, but failed. The Providence men were 
warned to have no more intercourse with those of Shawo- 
met. All hope of accommodation was at an end. The 
cattle were first seized and then the assault commenced. 
The Warwick men hung out the English flag in token of 
their allegiance to Old England. It was immediately 
riddled by the shot of their assailants. The troops had 
entrenched themselves and opened a regular system of 
approaches, so that the siege lasted some days. During 
all this time the Gortonists acted solely on the defensive, 
not firing a shot, although prepared to do so in case the 
house should be set on fire, or a forcible entry be at- 

' Winthrop, ii. 139, 40. How far these reasons justify Gorton's suspicions 
of the impartiality of his adversaries, the reader can judge. 



ATTACK UPON WARWICK. 183 

tempted. On Sunday morning the works of the besiegers 
were advanced so near the house tliat an effort was made 
to set it on fire, which failed. The commissioners sent 
to Massachusetts for more soldiers. The affair had reached 
a crisis. The Grortonists must surrender, or a fearful 
slaughter on hoth sides, with certain death, under form 
of law, to those of the besieged who might survive the 
conflict, would result. They submitted to superior force, 
and were carried in triumph as prisoners to Boston, ^ where ^o 
they were committed to jail to await their trial. The 
next Sabbath morning the prisoners refused to attend ^•^• 
church. The magistrates determined to compel them. 
They agreed to do so if they might have liberty to speak, 
should occasion require, after the sermon. This was con- 
ceded, so accordingly they came in the afternoon. Mr. 
Cotton preached at them about Demetrius and the shrines 
of Ephesus, after which, Gorton, leave being granted, re- 
plied, somewhat varying the application of the text, to 
the great scandal of his hearers.^ 

^ Gorton says tliis was a violation of the articles of surrender, by wliicli 
tliey were to "go along with them as freemen and neighbors," and not as 
captives ; and also that they took eighty head of cattle, besides swine and 
goats which were divided among themselves and their subjects, and broke 
open the houses, robbing the corn and other supplies. A part of these allega- 
tions are rather feebly denied by Winslow, while other parts are admitted 
by Winthrop. Gorton in a note on page 119, Staples' Simplicities Defence, 
taunts his captors with tlie extent of their triumph, " a whole country to 
cany away eleven men," and says that one had died, Sampson Shatton, be- 
fore, of his hardships, and but ten handled arms in this memorable siege. 
Winthrop, p. 140, says three escaped, and that nine were brought in as pris- 
oners, p. 142, but the Court records show that ten were put on trial. 

" This was not the last time that our over-zealous neighbors fonnd, to use 
au expressive phrase, that they had " caught a Tartar." The author of the 
Ecclesiastical History of Massachusetts, in a note to 1 M. H. G., ix. 38, relates a 
pertinent anecdote as having come under his own observation in Boston. "A 
man from the State of Rhode Lslaud was accused of blasphemy, and lirought 
before a Court of Justices. He was said to be a Deist, an Atheist, blasphemer 
of the Bible, &c. He denied it all. Witnesses were produced who had heard 
him say that the Bible was not the ivord of God. He acknowledged that he 
said it, and that every Christian would say the same ; that he was no Atheist 



184 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP. Gorton and liis company were brought before the 

^^ court upon the following charge of heresy and sedition : 
1(14 0. " Upon much examination and serious consideration of 
^-j-' your writings, with your answers about them, wee do 
charge you to bee a blasphemous enemy of the true re- 
ligion of our Lord Jesus Christ and his holy ordinances, 
and also of all civil authority among the people of God, 
and perticularly in this jurisdiction." It is worthy of no- 
tice that nothing is here said about Pumham. The os- 
tensible cause of the first summons by Massachusetts is 
no longer regarded now that the heretics are in their 
power. Upon this absurd accusation, containing no fact 
that admitted of any possible reply, the captives v/ere 
o,, put on trial for their lives. A warrant was also issued for 
the arrest of Waterman, Power, and John Greene and son, 
who had fled during the siege. The two former appeared ; 
the latter escaped entirely. The prisoners' exceptions to 
the jurisdiction were overruled on the ground that Ply- 
mouth claimed them, and had yielded its power, in this 

or Deist, but loved Lis Redeemer, and venerated liis r>il)le. Being asked how 
he could be consistent, he answered, ' That his Bible told him that Christ was 
the Woi-d of God, and the Bible a record of the divhm will. This was all he 
meant by saying the Bible was not the Word of God.'' He was dismissed, 
and he laughed heartily at his accusers. This man had been a Quaker 
preacher ; became a preacher of the Universalists, and had a small congrega- 
tion in the county of Berkshire, in 1794 ; but has never been permitted to 
])reach in the other churches of Universalists, his notions being very peculiar, 
and such his manner of expressing himself as people of all persuasions must 
dislike. Yet he possesses that acuteness of reasoning, and recollective mem- 
ory for quoting Scripture, which would have been fully equal to Gorton, had 
he met with the same opposition. But the spirit of persecution has flown 
from this State, to the mortification of many who wish to be of consequence, 
and would fain raise its ghost, for the sake of complaining of the present 
magistrates and clergy, but cannot find even the shadow on the wall." 

The writer of this history desires here to express his concurrence in the 
truth and the spirit of the concluding sentence above quoted, becaiise thus far 
in the j)rogress of this work the hostility between the two colonies was so con- 
stant that a casual reader might infer that the feeling, for wliich there was so 
much occasion two centuries ago, still lingered, at least in the mind of the 
author. This he expressly disavows, and only regrets that the nature of his 



WINSLOW'S DEFENCE OF MASSACHUSETTS. 185 

case, to the Bay ; and that, if they were under no juris- chap. 
diction, then Massachusetts had no redress for her wrongs, ^^,^.^_;^ 
and must either right herself by force of arms, or submit 1 <"> -i 3. 
to their injuries and revilings. This was but a weak de- 20. 
fence in a desperate cause ; nor is it strengthened by the 
special pleading of Winslow, who says, on this important 
point, " And if any ask by what authority they went out 
of their own government to do such an act, know that his 
former seditious and turbulent carriage in all parts where 
he came, as Plymouth, Khode Island, a place of greatest 
liberty, Providence, that place which releived him in that 
his so great extremity, and his so desperate close with so 
dangerous and potent enemies, and at such a time of con- 
spiracy by the same Indians, together with the wrongs 
done to the English and Indians under the protection of 
that government of the Massachusetts, who complained 
and desired relief ; together with his notorious contempt 
of aU civil government, as well as that particular, and 
his blasphemies against God, needlessly manifested in his 
proud letters to them. All these considered you sliall see 
hereby cause enough why they proceeded against him as 
a common enemy of the country." If these general 
charges were the real cause of their proceedings, why are 
tliey not all specifically alleged in the indictment, since, 

theme requires him, while speaking of the Puritans, to dwell almost wholly 
upon the dark side of characters that j)0ssessed so much real piety and essential 
greatness of soul. The Massachusetts writers of recent date have well atonet! ■ 
for the injustice committed by their forefathers, displaying the liberality of 
feelhig which ever accompanies elegant scholarship. Bancroft, Dean, Elliott, 
Felt, Hildreth, Savage, Sparks, Upham, Young, and since this work was com- 
menced, Mr. Barry's stirring aud truthful volumes, have all illustrated the tri- 
umph of truth over prejudice, and shown how a scholar may rise superior to 
the biases that misled his ancestors. The times have changed, and the sev- 
enteenth century was the period of transition. The Puritans exemplified the 
spirit of the past ; the founders of Rhode Island foreshadowed that of the fu- 
ture ; and we of the present may render justice and do honor to both, by 
placing ourselves, so far as practicable, in the position of those whose acts 
we record. The Puritans we should view in the light of bygone centuries ; 
their opponents in that of the present age, which has adopted their principles. 



186 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, if true, they might Ccasily be proved? — instead of which 
^^ the Latter only is brought out at the trial, and the whole 
1648. attention of the Conrt engaged in proving it. 
2(1 Their letters were produced as evidence against them. 

These they were required to retract or ex^^lain, which 
they refused to do. " The Court and the elders spent 
nearly a wdiole day in discovery of Gorton's deep myste- 
ries, which he had boasted of in his letters, and to bring 
him to conviction, but all was in vain." He denied the 
consequences imputed to them by the elders, and shroud- 
ing his opinions beneath an impenetrable veil of mysti- 
cism, maintained them to the last. A series of questions 
were propounded by the Court, upon which he was to 
answer for his life. These were™ 

1. Whether the Fathers, who died before Christ was 
born of the Virgin Mary, were justified and saved only by 
the blood which he shed, and the death which he suffered 
after his incarnation ! 

2. Whether the only price of our redemption, Avere 
not the death of Christ upon the cross, with the rest of 
liis sufferings and obediences in the time of his life here, 
after he was born of the Virgin Mary ! 

3. Who is that God whom he thinks we serve ? 

4. What he means, when he saith, We worshi]) the 
star of our god Eemphan, Chion, Moloch ? Written re- 
plies, signed by himself, were given to the Court. They 
appeared so reasonable that even the governor said he 
could agree with them in their answers though not in their 
writings,' to which concession the bigoted Dudley object- 
ed, while the more liberal Bradstreet, at Gorton's desire, 
requested that no further questions should be put to him. 

It was a peculiarity of the mystical philosophy of the 
age, that ideas were couched in language of which the 
apparent meaning would lead to every excess, and which 

' Simps. Defence, 132. Hutcb. Hist, of ]Mass,, i. 121. Eccles. Hist, of 
/ Mass., 37. 



SENTENCE OF THE GORTONISTS. 187 

Avere too transcendental to be otherwise understood by the chap. 
greater part. Such ideas were announced and defended ,.^,__ 
by Gorton and the Antinomian school, all of which, as 1C4 3. 
explained by the promulgators, were harmless enough ; but 
their danger consisted in the possible and probable abuse 
of them by the masses, while their opponents, as in the 
present tiial, imputed to them results which the authors 
denied. Heresy was the only charge against the Gorton- 
ists, and the sole object to which the attention of the 
Court was directed. The crime being sufficiently proved, 
the punishment was the next consideration. 

Upon this " the Court was much divided." The case j-^,,^. 
of Gorton was the most difficult. All the magistrates, but 8. 
three, condemned the great heresiarch to death, but a 
majority of tlie deputies refused to sanction the diabolical 
sentence. In the end he, with six others, were sentenced 
to be confined in irons, during the pleasure of the Court, 
to be set to worlc, and should they break jail, or in any 
way proclaim heresy or reproach the church or State, 
then, upon conviction thereof they should suiFer death. 
They were sent to difi'erent towns, Gorton to Charlestown, 
Wicks to Ipswich, Holden to Salem, Potter to Eowley, 
Carder to Eoxbury, Weston to Dorchester, and Warner 
to Boston. The other three were more mildly treated. 
Waddell was allowed to remain at large in Watertown ; 
Waterman, giving bonds to appear at the next Court, 
was dismissed ^ with a fine, and Power, denying having 
signed the first letter, a year previous, was dismissed with 
an admonition. A warrant was forthwith directed to the 
constables of the several towns to be ready within one 
Aveek to receive the prisoners. Their cattle were appraised 
and sold to defray the cost of the seizure and trial.'- The 

' At the Conrt on the 29th May followiug, behig " found erroneous, he- 
retical and obstinate," he was remanded to prison till the September Court, 
unless five magistrates should meanwhile see cause to send him away, in 
which case he was banished on pain of death. M. C. R., ii. 73. 

'■' The justice of this piece of judicial robbery can only be defended on 



188 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND, 

CHAP, prisoners were allowed to name two of the five appraisers 
^^^,;^ selected for tins purpose, whicli they properly declined to 
l(U3. do.' The convicts, secured in chains, were sent off to the 
several towns named in their sentence, not however till 
they had been paraded in a body before the congregation 
at Mr. Cotton's lecture, with their irons upon them, as an 
instructive sjiectacle. In this condition they were con- 
fined the whole winter, in the course of which Gorton ac- 
cused Cotton of having advised, in a sermon, that he 
1(1434. should be starved to death. This charge could scarcely 
'].>' be credited had not the elders and magistrates, at the 
trial, doomed him to die. This led Gorton to write a let- 
ter to the ruling elder of the Charlestown church, which 
is preserved in his book. But public opinion did not sus- 
tain such severe proceedings, and what was more to be 
dreaded by these zealots, the prisoners corrupted the peo- 
ple with their heresi(iF!. Now this offence, by the terms 
of the sentence passed upon them in November, was to 
be punished with death ; but a mightier power demanded 
their release. At the next General Court they were set 
7. at liberty, and banished from all places claimed to be 
within the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, including Prov- 
idence, and the lands of the suliject Indians ; and if found 
anywhere within those limits after fourteen days, they 
were to suffer death.- But even this brief period was not 
allowed them, for three days after, while Gorton and a 



:Nrarc]i 



10. 



some such grouiul as that taken by the " cannie Scot," in the anecdote quoted 
by Judge Staples, in a note to Simplicities Defence, p. 13G, as having occurred 
several years since in the island of Jamaica. " A Scotch officer, with sev- 
eral others of his corps, engaged in a billiard match with some Jews. The 
children of Israel, it seems, were much too expert at that game for the Cale- 
donian and his companions. The latter, after having lost some money, mus- 
tered their whole joint stock, and staked it against the sons of circumcision •, 
the game was played ; the Scot lost ; but he swept the stakes into his hat, 
drew his sword, and protected by his friends, retired, calling out, ' D — n yere 
saiils, ye scoundrels, yere a' enemies to the Lord Jesus Christ.'" 

^ See M. C. R. ii. 51-4 for official proof of the foregoing facts. 

- M. C. R., ii. 57. . 



THE GOKTONIST's RETURN TO AQUEDNECK. 189 

few otliers were awaiting the arrival of their comrades at 
Boston, a warrant from the Governor was served on them, 
ordering them to leave the town within two hours. They 
departed for Aquedneck, lodging one night in their own 
houses at Sliawomet, whence they wrote a letter to Gov. 
Winthrop to inquire if their own purchased territory was 
included in the sentence of hanishment. To this the 
Governor replied that it was, and ordered them to leave 
on peril of their lives. They did so, and once more sought 
refuge at Aquedneck. Thus ended these atrocious jjro- 
ceedings, which form one of the darkest pages in the his- 
tory of Massachusetts. ^ 

The controversy was ahout to be transferred to England. 
The settlement of Warwick was for a time suspended. 
Its persecuted owners were kindly received at Aquedneck, 
whence they had heen driven in disgrace a few years be- 
fore. The cause for which they had since suffered, and 
the measure of cruelty they had lately received, were 
enough to ensure them an earnest welcome. Here they 
hired houses and lands, and remained till after the recej)- 
tion of the charter had deprived their enemies of the last 
semblance of claim to intermeddle with the affairs of 
Rhode Island. 

It produced a curious effect on the minds of the In- 
dians, that, after such harsh treatment, and so many 
threats from their opponents, the Gortonists had returned 

^ The details of this memorable trial reminds us of the application of a 
niirsery rhyme as made by the late Archbishop of Dublin : — 

" Old Father Long-legs wouldn't say his prayers : 
Take him by the right leg — 
Take him by the loft leg — 
Take him fast by both legs^ 
And throw him down stairs! " 

" There," said his Grace, " in that nursery verse you may see an epitome 
of the history of all religious persecution. Father Long-legs refusing to say 
the prayers that were dictated and ordered by his little tj'rants, is regarded as 
a heretic, and snffers martyrdom." Who shall say hereafter that there is no 
moral conveyed in Mother Goose's Melodies? 



190 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

alive. They imagined tliat two distinct races inhabited 
Old England, one the English, whom they called Watta- 
conogos,' and the rival race they now termed Gortonoges, 
The ci^il war, of which they had heard, confirmed this 
idea, and the release of the Gortonists they naturally 
enongh attributed to the preponderance of the Gortonoges 
at home, which alarmed the English lest they should 
come over to America, and revenge the injuries that their 
feebler compatriots here had sustained. 

Soon after the return of Gorton the Narragansets sent 
messengers, ashing him and his friends to come over and 
speak with Canonicus. The venerable savage, with Pes- 
sicus, the brother and successor of Miantinomi, received 
tliem with a courtesy to which they had long been stran- 
gers. A council of the tribe was assembled. Their own 
situation, impoverished by the heavy ransom paid in vain 
for the life of their murdered prince, and the condition of 
their guests, robbed by the same remorseless power, formed 
the suljject of their conference. The result was most im- 
portant. This powerful tribe, upon whose fidelity, in 
former years, had hung the destiny of New England, vol- 
untarily submitted, in a body, " unto the government and 
protection of that honorable State of Old England." In 
^^- a written instrument they declared their allegiance to 
King Charles, '' upon condition of His Majesty's royal 
protection ; " and the signers, as having been successively 
from time immemorial, sovereign princes of the country, 
say that they cannot yield " unto any that are sul)jects 
themselves in any case." They appointed Gorton, Wicks, 
Holden and Warner their agents to carry their submis- 
sion to England ; soon after which Gorton and Holden 
embarked at New York with the instrument.- The 

' Sio-nifying coatmeii, or those ^yllo wear clothes. R. W'uis Key R. I. IT. 

c, i. r.o. 

'^ The exact time of Gorton's departure is iinknown. Staples and Mackie 
say it was " in lG-i-1, probably in the summer; " but by Gov. Winslow's ac- 
count in his answer to Gorton's Simplicities Defence, it appears that in No- 



lG4o. 
Oct. 



MASSACHUSETTS ATTEMPTS TO SETTLE WARWICK. 191 

other two remained at liome. John Greene, of Warwick, chap. 
also accompanied Gorton. Besides their Indian agency, ^I^ 
their business was to enter a complaint with the Com- 1644:. 
missioners of Foreign Plantations against Massachusetts, 
in behalf of the people of Shawomet, to obtain for them 
the restoration of their property. Notwithstanding the 17. 
arrival of Mr. Williams with the free charter of Provi- 
dence, Massachusetts strove, though vainly, to continue 
her usurpation over the lands of Shawomet. A notice 
was issued warning any persons from settling there with- 
out leave from the General Court. The following year a 
yet bolder step was taken by the General Court. A pe- 
tition, signed by thirty-two persons, of whom twenty were 1 
freemen, asldng for the lands' of Pumham, was granted. 
Ten thousand acres were given them. They had power 
to admit or keep out others as they pleased. Benedict 
Arnold was appointed to negotiate with the sachem for 
his right in any improved ground. The houses of the 
Gortonists were placed at the disposal of the petitioners, 
provided only that they should pay to the owners what 
the Court should appoint, " if they see cause so to do," 
and that ten families should take possession within one 
year.' No settlement upon this grant was made. Mr. 
John Brown, a magistrate of Plymouth, and then one of 
the Commissioners of the United Colonies, prohibited the 
settlement, claiming the lands as within Plymouth juris- 
diction, and saying it should be restored to the rightful 
owners, Gorton and his associates. This bold stand, so 
creditable to Brown, although partially disowned by his 
government, deterred the settlers,- and before the dispute 

vember of that year he was still at Aquedneck, aud was a magistrate there 
when Mr. John Brown was sent to assert the Plymouth claim to the island. 
Winslow was Governor of Plymouth that year, and signed Brown's commis- 
sion Nov. 8, 1644. On I4th Jaimary, lGi5-6, Gorton dates his book at Lon- 
don. I infer that he left dm-ing the winter of 161±-5. Perhaps Brown's 
visit at Aquedneck hastened his departure. 

' M. C. R., ii. 128. - Winthrop, ii. 252. 



192 HISTOKY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, that arose on the question between Massachusetts and 
^^ Plymouth was decided by the Commissioners in favor of 
1 6 4 5. the former, the Parliament had already ordered its resto- 

Of 

2(( ' ration to the lawful purchasers. Similar annoyances con- 
tinued for many years, summons being often issued to re- 
quire the attendance of parties at the Massachusetts 
Courts, upon the suit of her subjects resident in Khode 
Island. 

The efforts of Massachusetts to extend her jurisdic- 
tion in this direction seemed to receive a fresh impetus by 
the arrival of that charter which was designed as a shield to 
the feeble colonists of Rhode Island against her all-grasp- 
in"; ambition. The coveted shores of the Narrao;anset 
assumed a new importance in her eyes when the action 
of Parliament placed them beyond her reach. Every ef- 
fort was made to attach to herself any residents of Rhode 
- Island who were dissatisfied with the existing order of 
things, and thus to sow the seeds of discontent more 
widely in the heretical plantations. The insane idea was 
cherished by her rulers and inculcated upon the other 
colonics, that in this way tlie people of Rhode Island 
might he led to question the validity of their charter, and 
be discouraged from organizing their distracted settle- 
ments into one corporate body under its provisions. Ply- 
mouth, we have already seen, was led to claim the east- 
ern shore and the island, and Connecticut was ere long to 
assert her right to the Narraganset country, while Provi- 
dence and Warwick were apportioned to the fomenters of 
this tripartite division. As we examine the progress of 
this deep-laid scheme, and observe the steadiness with 
which it was pursued through a long scries of years, we 
cannot but admire the firmness of our ancestors in foiling 
it at every turn, nor can we fail to recognize the hand of 
a Superior Power in preserving a colony whose peculiar 
principles at first made it an object of aversion, and finally 
were adopted as the cardinal doctrines of a whole nation. 



RESULT OF Gorton's mission. 193 

The result of Grorton's mission, so far as falls within chap. 
the limits of our iwesent chapter, was briefly this. The ^^^ 
Commissioners issued an order requiring Massachusetts to 164 fi. 
reinstate the proscribed parties, and forbidding any at- ]5' 
tempt to exercise jurisdiction over them. It was brought 
over by Holden in a ship to Boston. Witli some difficulty ^^P^- 
he was allowed to land. Many wished to commit him to 
jail, but better counsel prevailed, and ho was permitted 
to pass quietly through to Rhode Island, by virtue of the 
protection given him by Parliament. Upon receipt of Nov. 
this order the General Court seriously dcbateil how far 
they owed allegiance to England, but wisely concluded, 
on advice of the elders, that they w^ere not yet independ- 
ent.' They decided to send Mr. Edward AVinslow to 
England as their agent. An answer to Gorton's memo- 
rial, a copy of which had been enclosed in the aforemen- 
tioned order, was prepared, which AVinslow, being duly Dec 
commissioned, carried, together mtli two sets of instruc- ^' 
tions, one public, in accordance with his commission, the 
other secret, concerning the course he was to adopt and 
the answers he was to make to the objections against the 
conduct and government of Massachusetts, contained in 
the Commissioners' order.^ The controversy in regard to 
the lands of Warwick, so named by Gorton in compliment 
to the Earl through whose influence his mission was suc- 
cessful, was prolonged for thirty-five years. It soon be- 
came involved in the greater dispute relating to the adja- 
cent territory of Narraganset, which will be considered in 
future chapter,^. The first decision, above given, was final 

' This rather remarkable discus.siou is given at lengtl: by Winthrop, ii. 
278-284. It shows the temper of the times, and demonstrates more cioarlj 
than any other proceedings since those of 1 635, when a general governor was 
expected from England, (Wintli. Jour, i. 154, and ante chap. i. pp. 32-3,) 
the feeling with which the Puritans viewed any act of the home government 
that threatened to abi'idge their virtual independence. 

■^ Copies of all these papers are given in Winthrop, ii. 295-30), and of the 
most important ones in Ii. I Col. Rec's. i. 307-373. 

VOL. I. — 13 



194 HISTOKY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, in its effect, altliougb, after hearing Mr. Winslow, the 

,___J^ committee wrote to Massachusetts that if the Shawomet 

10 47. Lands were in their patent, or in that of Plymouth, the 

25^ case would be altered ; hut they soon afterwards wrote 

J"ly to all the colonies that the Warwick men should he as- 

92 

sisted and not molested during the examination of the 
({uestion at issue.' The purchasers of Shawomet returned 
to their homes, and successfully withstood the pertinacious 
efforts of Massachusetts to retain her unlawful dominion 
over them. 

The Warwick men were strict constructionists of the 
most rigid school. They neither recognized the existing 
governments of Providence and Aquedneck, as we have 
seen, nor did they establish any of their own ; not, as 
their enemies represented, because they were opposed to 
all magistracy, but because, as English subjects, they 
could not lawfully create or submit to any government 
that was not authorized by patent from the Crown or 
Parliament of England. Hence we have no record of 
■^^'^''' their proceedings until after the organization of the colo- 
nial government. They were few in number, so that the 
mode of settling difficulties, by arbitration, adopted by 
them before their expulsion, was probably continued till 
their scruples were removed by the adoption of the char- 
ter. After this took place their rigid adherence to all the 
forms of law, as well as to its spirit, was no less remarka- 
ble than had been their previous neglect. The charter 
supplied their theoretical wants, and devotion to its letter 
and spirit marked all their subsequent conduct. - 

' Both these letters are in Staples' Gorton. R. I. H. C. ii. 203-6. 

- One or two examples of this may hei-e be mentioned. For many years 
their numbers were few, and some of the requirements of the common law 
bore heavily upon them, especially that requiring twelve men to constitute a 
jury. Accordingly we find them altering that provision to conform, in the 
lano-uao-e of the charter, " to the nature and constitution of the place," in 
these words : " Whereas the townsmen of Warwick having taken into con- 
sideration that it cannot stand with the constitution of the phice to continue 



1G41. 



SETTLEMENT OF NORTH KINGSTON. 195 

The act of submission arrayed the Narragansets in chap. 
hostility to the pretensions of Massachusetts, and virtu- .^I^ 
ally annexed their country to the State of Khode Island, 10 44. 
of which, thereafter, it formed an important part. Three 
years prior to this Kichard Smith had purchased land and 
erected a trading house, in what is now North Kingston,^ 
in the midst of the Indian country, wliich was the only 
settlement south of Warwick until after the charter went 
into operation, when Roger Williams set up a similar es- 
tablishment for a few years and sold out to Smith, upon 
his second appointment as agent to England.'- 

Both English and Indians were now the acknowledged ^ *^ "* ■^• 
subjects of Great Britain, and the haughty spirit of the 

twelve men for the tryal of causes, It is therefore ordered that there be estab- 
lished six jurors for the trial of causes, and to have six pence a man for each 
cause, and for coiiusellor's fees three shillings and four pence, and this to be 
of force notwithstanding any law formerly to the contrary." Warwick Rec- 
ords of Feb. 5, 1Gjj(),7. This change might appear as a violation of law in- 
stead of a real conformity to its spirit, if the preamble were not recited and 
their circumstances were not considered. 

But still later we have a more striking instance of their attachment to 
" law and order." At a to^\-n meeting, Oct. 12, 16G3, we find it " Ordered in 
regard that there is a writing directed to the warden or deputy warden of the 
town of Warwick, bearing date the 23 September, 16G3, and subscribed 
James (I. R.) Rodgers, and not the title of any office annexed thereto ; the 
Town do therefore protest against it as being contrary to law and order, and 
that report be made hereof to the next Court of Commissioners. It is fm-- 
ther ordered that the town being sensible of matters that do depend, which 
concern our agent, Mr. John Clarke, do therefore conclude to choose com- 
missioners to attend the Court notwithstanding illegality of the sayd writing, 
and that justice may proceed notwithstanding the sayd neglect do likewase 
order to choose juiymen to attend the Court of Trials." See Warwick Rec- 
ords of that date. Rogers was General Sergeant of the colony, and should 
have affixed the title of his office to his name in an official communication. 

^ On the site of the present (1835) Updike house, which is said to be 
built, partly, of the materials of Smith's. Potter's Earlj^ Hist, of Narragau- 
set, R. I. H. C. iii. 32. 

^ M. H. C. i. 211. The precedence of Smith was denied by Howlden and 
Greene in their sketch of NaiTaganset, in 1680. They say Warwick was set- 
tled first, and that Williams preceded Smith, but the evidence is all the other 
way, and their eiTor perhaps arose from there being two Richard Smiths, fiither 
and son, in the concern. Br. S. P. 0. New England Papers, voh iii. p. 81. 



196 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, native chiefs refused to account for their conduct to 
^ ^' any Ijut their common Master. A summons was received 

16 44. from Massachusetts for them to attend at the next Court. 
^04^ They dechned to do so, and informed the government of 
their submission to King Charles, and of their intention 
to make war on Uncas. This letter, with one of like pur- 
23ort from Gorton, gave great anxiety to the General 
^^l!^^' Court. Two messengers were sent to the Narragansets 
to counteract the influence of Gorton, and to dissuade 
them from their purpose. They were coldly received and 
failed in their mission. Pumhani and Soconoco, dreading 
the anger of the Narragansets, applied to Massachusetts 
for a guard. An officer was sent with ten soldiers to 
build a fort, and to remain for their protection till the 

July danger was passed. Although the Commissioners of the 
United Colonies prevented immediate war between the 

[>;^.,)t_ hostile tribes, they could only avert it for a while. In a 

3(U4-;"). f,.-^ months the Narragansets sent messengers to Boston, 
declaring that unless Uncas should pay a hundred and 
sixty fathoms of wampum, or come to a new hearing of 
the case within six weeks, they would make war upon 
him.' 

2(545 In the spring the long restrained wrath of the Narra- 

gansets vented itself upon the Mohegans. One thousand 
men, some of whom were armed with guns, attacked Un- 
cas and defeated him with considerable slaughter. Con- 
necticut and New Haven sent troops to protect Uncas. 
The General Court dcsi)atched a letter to the Narracran- 
'jg sets requiring them to desist from war, and soon after sent 
Benedict Arnold as a messenger to them. The Indians 
afterward stated that he had misrepresented their answer, 
and sent for Eoger Williams to assist them in their trou- 
bles. A sp'ecial meeting of tlie New England Commis- 
sioners was held in this emergency, and messengers - Avere 



.lulv 
'28." 



■■ Hubbard's Xew England, cli. ]i. 

- Semeant John Davis, Benedict Arnold and Francis Smyth. 



FORCED TllEATY WITH THE NARRAGANSETS. 197 

sent a second time to require both the hostile tribes to send chap. 
deputies to Boston, who should explain the cause of the war, ,_^^__ 
receive satisfaction, and make peace. This attempt failed. 16 4 5. 
The embassy was haughtily treated by the Narragansets, 
who were resolved to have the head of Uncas. On their 
return they brought a letter from Mr. Williams, stating 
that terms of neutrality had been made by the Indians 
with the colonies of Rhode Island, and that war was in- 
evitable.' The United Colonies at once declared war ^^^i„ 
ao-ainst the Narrao^ansets, and a force of three hundred 1^- 
men, under command of Major Edward Gribbons, was 
raised.'-^ Forty mounted men were impressed by Massa- 
chusetts within three days, and sent on in advance under 
Lieut. Atherton. Messengers ^ were also sent to carry 
back a present that the Indians had lately sent as a peace 
offering to the English. The Narragansets, alarmed at 
these active demonstrations, sued for peace. Through the 
mediation of Williams, to whose influence, now for the 
second time within eight years. New England owed her 
peace and safety, Pessicus, with two other principal sa- 
chems, and a large train of attendants, came to Boston. 
A treaty was concluded which bore heavily upon the Nar- 
ragansets. They were to pay two thousand fathoms of ^'^• 
wampum in four equal instalments, the last at the end of 
two years. Captives and canoes were to be mutually re- 
stored by them and the Mohegans, and the disputes be- 
tween them were to be settled by the Commissioners. 
They were to give up all right to the Pequot country, 

■ Hubbard's New Englaiul, ch. li. and Trumbull's Connecticut, i. 150-4. 

- The declaration of war contains a summary of previous occurrences 
with the Indians, signed by John Winthrop, President, and is given at length 
by Hubbard, ch. li.- and in 2 M. H. C. vi. 454-62. 

' Capt. Harding, Mr. Wilbore and Benedict Arnold — the latter as inter- 
jireter, but he could not he fotmd in Providence, and dared no longer to ven- 
ture among the Indians, who charged him with misrepresenting their reply 
two months previous. Roger Williams, whose influence was paramount with 
the Indians, acted as interpreter on this occasion at the solicitation of the 
messengers. (Knowles, 20i.) 



198 HISTOKY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND. 

wMch tliey had aided the English in conquering. Other 
hard terms were enforced^ and hostages were required of 
16 45. them. Sadly they signed this compulsory and oppressive 
treaty, and sullenly they retired to their native fastnesses 
to brood over the wrongs thus newly inflicted. The se- 
vere exaction almost ruined them. The following spring 

, , „ they failed to send the tribute, and when a small part 
10 4 6."^ ^ , . 

June only was sent the Commissioners refused to receive it im- 
less they could have the whole that was due. 

The remainder of this jiainfid story, although it car- 
ries us beyond the limit assigned to this chapter, is better 
told here. The next year an extra meeting of the New 
England Commissioners was called on account of the fail- 
ure of the Narragansets to fulfil the treaty, and of their 
alleged attempts to allure the Mohawks to unite in a war 
against the English. A threatening letter was sent to 
Pessicus requiring his appearance at Boston. He excused 
his attendance on the plea of sickness, declared that he 
had been forced by fear to accept the treaty, and prom- 
ised to send Ninigret, sachem of the subordinate tribe of 
Nianticks, to Boston, and to abide by any agreement he 

^^^^ should make. When Ninigret came before the Commis- 
3. sioners he denied all knowledge of the treaty, or of any 
reason why the Narragansets should pay tribute to the 
English, to whom they owed nothing. The case being 
explained to him, he desired ten days to send home for 
the wampum, while he remained as a hostage. His mes- 
senger brought back but two hundred fathoms,/ which 
Ninigret attributed to his absence. It was finally agreed 
that he should pay a thousand fixthoms within twenty 
days, and the rest by the next spring, upon which condi- 
tion he was dismissed. 

The wampum was not paid. Why should it be? 
When we consider the foul death of their almost idolized 
chieftain, to avenge which — not ujjon the English, its real 
authors, but upon Uncas, their ruthless tool — they had 



EXPEDITION OF ATHERTON. 199 

begun a war after due notice given, as agreed, to tlie chap. 
English, wlio at first gave their consent ; and that then tlie ,.^_^ 
English had marched an army against them, and by ter- 1647. 
ror had forced them to a treaty of which the avowed ob- 
ject was to disable them, we cannot blame Pessicus for 
disavowing, or Ninigret for ignoring it, or either for neg- 
lecting to comply with its provisions. Again messengers 

were sent to the Narrao-ansets without effect. Rumors of i ^ -. o 
. . 1 6 48. 

an Indian alliance continued to alarm the colonists, who 

persisted in identifying the cause of Uncas with their 
own, and in considering any attempt of the Narragansets 16 4 9. 
to avenge their wrongs upon the Mohegans as a conspiracy 
against themselves. An abortive attempt was made to 
assassinate Uncas. Another special meeting of the United j , , 
Colonies was called upon this occasion, and Ninigret again 23." 
appeared to excuse his breach of faith, and to defend the 
recent attack upon the mortal foe of his tribe. The pa- 
tience of the English was exhausted in this last fruitless 
effort to obtain the tribute. The next year the Commis- 
sioners sent Capt. Atherton with twenty men to collect ^ ' 
it. Pessicus tried in vain to avoid an interview while" he 
assembled his warriors. Seeing this, Atherton forced his gept 
way, pistol in hand, into the wigwam, and seizing the sa- ^• 
chem by the hair, dragged him from the midst of his at- 
tendants, threatening instant death if any resistance Avas 
offered. This summary conduct, which reflects more 
credit on the courage of the Captain, than on the justice 
or the- policy of his government, produced the desired re- 
sult. The debt was paid. The troopers dej)arted, leav- 
ing behind them, in Indian memory, one more act of 
wrong and insult to ranlde till the day of retribution. 
From the murder of Miantinomi, down to the savage ex- 
pedition of Atherton, the whole seven years is filled with 
acts of aggression and of unjust interference on one side, 
and with the haughty protests of an injured, a high-spir- 
ited, and a feebler race of Indians on the other. 



200 HISTOEY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 



CHAPTER VII. 

1047—1051. 

HISTORY OF THE INCORPORATION OF PROVIDENCE PLANTA- 
TIONS FROM THE ADOPTION OF THE PARLIAMENTARY CHAR- 
TER, MAY', 1G47, TO THE USURPATION OF CODDINGTON, AU- 
GUST, 1651. _ - ' 

" The Incorporation of Providence Plantations in the 
* vn^' Narragauset Bay in New England," was the legal title 



1 (U 7. 



under wliicli the several settlements in Rhode Island were 
Tinited by the terms of the patent. The origin of this 
charter we have already noticed. Its peculiar character 
deserves attention. It was very general in its provisions, 
and conferred absolute independence on the colony. The 
single proviso with which it was fettered, to wit that " the 
laws, constitutions and punishments, for the civil govern- 
ment of the said plantation, be conformable to the laws 
of England," was practically annulled in the same sen- 
tence by the subjoined words, " so far as the nature and 
constitution of that place will admit." Thus the people 
were left free to enact their own laws, for this qualifying 
clause in effect defeated the proviso. No charter had ever 
been granted up to that time wliich conferred so ample 
powers upon a community, and but one as free has ever 
emanated since from the throne of a monarch. 

The other remarkable feature in this instrument con- 
sists, not in what it specified, but in what it omitted. 
The use of the word " civil," everywhere prefixed to the 



ORGANIZATION UNDER THE FIRST PATENT. 201 

terms " government " or " laws," wherever they occur in chap 
the patent, served to restrict the operation of the charter d^^- 
to purely pohtical concerns. In this apparent restriction 1647. 
there lay concealed a boon of freedom, such as man had 
never known before. A grant so great no language could 
convey, for the very use of words would imply the power 
to grant, and hence the co-ordinate power to refuse. 
Here was the essence of the Rhode Island doctrine. They 
held themselves accountable to God alone fpr their relig- 
ious creed, and no earthly power could bestow on them a 
right they held from Heaven. Hence the expressive si- 
lence of the charter on the subject of religious freedom. 
At their own request their powers were limited to civil 
matters. Beyond this a silence more significant than 
language proclaimed the triumph of soul-liberty. 

More than three years had elapsed since the patent 
was obtained, and for thirty-two months, since its recep- 
tion, it had served only as an apology for the self-consti- 
tuted governments of the several towns. The higher ob- 
ject for which it was designed could no longer be kept in 
abeyance. The necessity of union was daily becoming 
more apparent. So long as distinct organizations were 
maintained, a color of plausibility was given to the con- 
stant efforts of the neighboring colonies to impair its va- 
lidity. The difliculties in the way of consolidation were 
at length overcome. A General Assembly of the people 
was held at Portsmouth. Providence sent ten delegates May 
to act for her. The records of Portsmouth and Newport ^'•^-^^■ 
do not show that any were chosen from those towns, al- 
though it is probable that this was done. Warwick was 
not named in the charter, and her records do not begin 
till after this Assembly, but she was admitted to the same 
privileges with the rest at the oj^ening of the session. 

This first General Assembly was in fact a meeting of 
the Corporators formally to adopt the charter, and then 
to organize a government under it. It was not simply a 



202 HISTOKY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, convention of delegates but of the whole people. A ma- 
_^^^ joi'ity being present their acts were binding upon the whole, 
16 47. as is expressed in the opening of the Assembly, when, 
19-21. having first chosen Mr. John Coggeshall, Moderator, " It 
was voted and found, that the major part of the colony 
were present at this Assembly, whereby was full power to 
transact." The next step was to provide against the 
withdrawal of so great a number as to defeat the object 
of the meeting by putting a stop to legislation. For this 
purpose the number of forty was agreed upon, who, in case 
the rest should depart, were required to remain " and act 
as if the whole were present, and be of as full authori- 
ty." In the establishment of this compulsory quorum 
we sec the germ of the representative system, which the 
increasing number of the colonists now rendered necessa- 
ry. The Assembly being thus organized, and the initia- 
tory steps taken to secure its permanence and authority, 
" It was agreed that all should set their hands to an en- 
gagement to the charter," The engagement is embodied 
in the preamble to the code of laws adopted at this time, 
and hence has no signatures. This was a safer course to 
pursue, as the other might im})ly that those only were 
bound by the charter who had given in their written con- 
sent. The Assembly then adopted the representative 
system, by ordering that '" a week before any General 
Court, notice should be given to every town by the head 
officer, that they choose a committee for the transaction 
of the affairs there," and they also provide for a proxy 
vote in the words " and such as go not may send their 
votes sealed." After unanimously adopting a code of 
laws, which had been prepared previous to the meeting, 
for the government of the colony, they proceeded to elect 
by ballot the general officers, to continue for one year, or 
till new be chosen. 

John Coggeshall was chosen President of the Province 
or Colony, with one Assistant from each town, viz. : Roger 



MODE OF PASSING GENERAL LAWS. 203 

Williams of Providence, John Sandford of Portsmouth, chap. 



VII. 



William Coddington of Newport, and Randal Holden of 
Warwick. William Dyer was chosen General Recorder, 1 G 4 7. 
and Jeremy Clarke, Treasurer. 19-21. 

The mode of passing general laws was then prescribed, 
and deserves attention for the care with which it provides 
for obtaining a free expression of the opinions of the whole 
people. All laws were to be first discussed in the towns. 
The town first proposing it was to agitate the question in 
town meeting and conclude by vote. The town clerk was 
to send a copy of what w^as agreed on to the other three 
towns, who were likewise to discuss it and take a vote in 
town meeting. They then handed it over to a commit- 
tee of six men from each town, freely chosen, which com- 
mittees constituted " the General Court," who were to 
assemble at a call for the purpose, and, if they found the 
majority of the colony concurred in the case, it was to 
stand as a law" " till the next General Assembly of all the 
people," who were finally to decide whether it should con- 
tinue as law or not. Thus the laws emanated directly 
from the people. The General Court had no power of re- 
vision over cases already presented, but simply the duty 
of promulgating the laws with which the towns had in- 
trusted them. The right to originate legislation was, 
however, vested in them to be carried out in this way. 
When the Court had disposed of the matters for which 
it was called, should any case be presented upon wliich 
the public good seemed to require their action, they were 
to debate and decide upon it. Then each committee, on 
returning to their town, was to rej)ort the decision, which 
was to be debated and voted upon in each town ; the 
votes to be sealed and sent by each town clerk to the 
General Recorder, who, in presence of the President, was 
to count the votes. If a majority were found to have 
adopted the law, it was to stand as such till the next 
General Assembly should confirm or repeal it. The jeal- 



204 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

ousy with whicli the people maintained their rights, and 
the checks thus put upon themselves in the exercise of the 
law-mahing power, as displayed in this preliminary act, 
present most forcibly the union of the two elements of 
liberty and law in the Rhode Island mind. 

The " Court of Election " was appointed for '' the first 
Tuesday after the fifteenth of May, annually, if wind and 
weather hinder not ; then the General Court of trials im- 
mediately to succeed." The manner and time of organ- 
izing monthly and quarterly Courts, was left to the town 
councils of Newport and Portsmouth to arrange within 
thirty days. From them had emanated the code of laws, 
and to them it was intrusted to perfect the means of en- 
forcing that code. Acts were passed regulating the pow- 
ers of the towns in specific cases, and requiring that six 
men, to compose a town council, should be chosen by each 
town at its next meeting. " The sea laws, otherwise 
called Laws of Oleron," were adopted " for the benefit of 
seamen upon the island," and two water bailies ' were 
chosen for the colony. An anchor was adopted as the 
seal of the Province. Reciprocal duties with foreign na- 
tions, upon all imported goods, except beaver, were estab- 
lished, and they were prohibited from trade with the In- 
dians. A military system, very like the one adopted 
seven years before at Aquedneck, was ordered.- No arms 
or ammunition were to be sold to the Indians under a 
heavy penalty. The remoter settlements were apportioned 
among the towns. Newport was to have the trading posts 
in the Narraganset country ; Portsmouth, the island of 
Prudence, and the people of Pawtuxet were allowed their 
choice to belong to Providence, Portsmouth or Newport. 
A letter was ordered to l)e sent to them to make their se- 
lection, and another to Massachusetts respecting her claim 
to jurisdiction over them.^ A form of engagement for the 

' John Cooke and Thomas Brownell. '^ Ante, cliap. v. p. 145. 

'■' These letters camiol; be found on the records of Massachusetts or Rhode 
Island. 



RECIPKOCAL ENGAGEMENT OF THE STATE TO ITS OFFICERS. 205 

officers was adopted, and wliat in our day seems curious, chap 
but is not tlie less just, a form for " The reciprocal en- .J.^, 
gagement of the State to the officers" was agreed upon 10 47. 
as follows : — ;i q_^\ 

" We the inhabitants of the Province of Providence 
Plantations, being here orderly met, and having, by free 

vote chosen you to public office, as officers for the 

due administration of justice and the execution thereof, 
throughout the whole Colony, do hereby engage ourselves, 
to the utmost of our power, to support and uphold you in 
your faithful performance thereof." The clerk of the As- 
sembly represented the State in giving and receiving these 
engagements. 

A tax of one hundred pounds w' as levied, as a free gift 
to Mr. Roger Williams, for his labor in obtaining the char- 
ter. Of this Newport was to pay one-half, Portsmouth 
thirty, and Providence twenty pounds. By this appor- 
tionment it appears that Ncwj)ort had rapidly advanced 
in wealth. Although the latest settled, she was already 
equal to the two older towns, and the island embraced ■ 
four-fifths of the strength of the Province. Warwick was 
too weak as yet to bear any part of the burden. 

The preamble and bill of rights, prefixed to the code 
of civil and criminal law adopted at this time, is a re- 
markable production. Brief, simi>le and comprehensive, 
the preamble asserts in a few words the two cardinal doc- 
trines of the founders of Rhode Island. It declares "that 
the form of government established in Providence Plan- 
tations is Democratical, that is to say, a government held 
by the free and voluntary consent of all, or the greater 
part, of the free inhabitants." This position was no less 
novel and startling to the statesmen of that day, than 
was the idea of religious freedom, which, in the next enact- 
ing clause, it carefully guards. Both of these principles 
were exclusively Rhode Island doctrines, and to lier be- 
lono;s the credit of them both. This first General Asseni- 



206 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP. Wy aimed to adopt a code that should secure each of these 
_^^ objects, and thus be " suitable to the nature and consti- 
1647. tution of the place." They succeeded ; and we hazard 
Iy.2L little in saying that the digest of 1647, for simplicity of 
diction, unencumbered as it is by the superfluous verbiage 
that clothes our modern statutes in learned obscurity ; for 
l)readth of comprehension, embracing as it does the foun- 
dation of the whole body of law, on every subject, which 
has since been adopted ; and for vigor and originality of 
thought, and boldness of expression, as well as for the 
vast significance and the brilliant triumph of the princi- 
ples it embodies, jiresents a model of legislation which has 
never been surpassed. 

The bill of rights embraces in concise terms, under 
four distinct heads, the fundamental 2^rincij)les of all our 
subsequent legislation. In the first it re-enacts a clause 
of Magna Charta guaranteeing the liberty and property 
of the person, and guards against constructive felonies, 
which at that time were sapping the foundations of Eng- 
lish liberty, by restricting criminal suits to violations of 
the letter of the law.* In the second it prevents the as- 
sumption or the abuse of delegated power, by forbidding 
any to hold office who are not lawfully called to it, and re- 
quiring those who are, to perform neither more nor less 
than their proper duties. These two heads secure the 
rights of individuals against the government. The third 
protects the right of minorities against the majority, by 
restricting the legislative power of the Assembly to laws 
" founded upon the charter, and rightly derived from the 
Greneral Assembly, lawfully met and orderly managed." 
The last section requires that adequate compensation be 
paid to all officers, that every man should serve when 
elected or submit to a fine, and that " in case of imminent 
danger no man shall refuse." In conclusion they proceed 
to adopt generally the common lavf of England, with the 
i-eiteratcd restriction that they enact only " such of them 



BILL OF RIGHTS AND CODE OF LAWS. 207 

and so far, as tlie nature and constitution of our place chap. 
will admit." Upon this all-important saving clause in Ji^^ 
the charter they laid great stress. It was their guarantee 1647. 
and shield of independence. Under their patent they 19.21. 
claimed that they could do as they pleased, so long as 
they did not violate any law of England, and they acted 
accordingly. Practically they declared that " their gov- 
ernment derived all its just powers from the consent of the 
governed," and expressly they established, for the first 
time in the history of the modern world, a " Democratical 
form of government." To secure this and their cherished 
idea of rehgious freedom, were the two objects aimed at 
throughout the digest of laws then adojjted. For these 
high purposes they sacrificed their early predilections for 
English laws wherever they conflicted with them. They 
commenced their career as an independent State, by vir- 
tue of a charter that made them such, and which they 
knew, although it might be forfeited by abuse, could not 
be revoked at pleasure. Their statutes were so framed 
as to be within both its letter and its spirit, and so long 
as this was the case they felt secure in their liberties. 

The code, in its divisions of the law, is not remarka- 
ble for precision, and the definitions of crime are not such 
as we should find at this day in a work on criminal juris- 
prudence ; but the meaning is clear and unmistakable. 
Each ofi"euce is separately defined, and its penalty dis- 
tinctly stated. A feeling of humanity pervades the whole, 
as if the object were to repress crime rather than to pun- 
ish it. In this point it presents a striking contrast to the 
vindictive spirit of cotemporary codes ; sometimes indeed 
erring, it may be, on the side of mercy, and ever display- 
ing a marked respect for the rights of conscience. An 
instance of the former peculiarity is found in the statute 
against burglary, of which the penalty was death, save 
where the convict was under fourteen years of age, or was 
a poor person impelled by hunger to commit the crime ; 



208 HISTOKY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, iu which case it was declared to be larceny. The pream- 
v^^„;_ ble to the law against perjury well illustrates the regard 
1 G47. felt for private scruples. "Forasmuch as the consciences 
19-21. ^^^ sundry men, truly conscionable, may scruple the giving 
or the taking of an oath, and it would Ije nowise suitable 
to the nature and constitution of our place, who profess 
ourselves to be men of diiferent consciences and not one 
willing to force another, to debar such as cannot do so, 
either from bearing office among us or from giving in testi- 
mony in a case depending ; be it enacted by the autliority 
of this present Assembly, that a solemn profession or tes- 
timony in a court of record, or Ijcfore a judge of record, 
shall be accounted, throughout the whole colony, of as 
full force as an oatli ; " and then it proceeds to decree the 
penalty of jierjury against any who sliould folsify such 
testimony. This deference to conscientious motives is tlie 
more remarkable as at that time the Friends did not yet 
exist as a distinct society, holding to the unlawfulness of 
oaths. It is a practical and legal exposition of the Rhode 
Island doctrine upon one of the very subjects for which 
the Founder of the State had suffered twelve years be- 
fore. ' T lie law for the recovery of debts contains a pro- 
vision in behalf of the honest debtor, which later codes 
might well embody — " but he sliall not be sent to ])rison, 
there to lie languishing to no man's advantage, unless he 
refuse to appear or to stand to their order." 

Marriage was held as a civil contract throughout New 
England. The statute required the banns to be published 
at two town meetings, and confirmed before the chief offi- 
cer of the town. It was then to be entered on the town 
records, thus providing, in that early day, a registry of 
marriage, such as recent legislation has attempted to re- 
vive. The statute regulating the probate of wills con- 
tains a singular provision in the case of intestates, or of 

' Ou 80tli April, ]Gor>, lloger Williams was called before tlie Council for 
his views on the matter of oatlis. Chip. i. p. 30, ante. 



ARCHEEY PRESCRIBED BY STATUTE. 209 

executors declining: to act. The town council were to chap. 

• • VTT 

have an inventory taken, and then to distribute the estate „^.__^ 
among the heirs at law, appointing an executor for that 16 4 7. 
purpose ; in other words, they were to make a will for ]9.2L 
him. This was a common thing, and many such quasi 
testaments remain upon the town records, in some of 
which a largely discretionary power appears to have heen 
exercised by the councils.' It was not nnusual to prove 
a will in the presence of the testator, before his death. 
The instrument being executed, and witnesses examined, 
it was returned to the testator duly certified, and after 
his decease testamentary letters were issued to the execu- 
tor. The advantage of this course where questions of 
sanity or fraud are involved is obvious. 

There are very many points in this digest that make 
it an interesting study, illustrative of the progressive 
views of our ancestors, and of the dangers that surrounded 
them. We can allude to but one other statute, bearing 
upon the latter point. So important was the subject of 
archery considered, in view of the menaces to which they 
were exposed from warlike tribes, whose weapon was the 
bow, and of their own liability to be deprived of the use 
of their fire-arms from want of ammunition, that it was 
not left, like the other laws relating to military defence, 
to be established in the acts and orders of Assembly, but 
was embodied in the code itself Every man between the 
ages of seventeen and seventy was required to keep a bow 
and four arrows, and to exercise with them ; and every 
father was to furnish each son, from seven to seventeen 
years old, with a bow, two arrows and shafts, and to bring 

' Judge Staples says upon tLis subject : " They were not simply a division 
and distribution of the estate of tlie deceased among his heirs at law, but in 
one instance now in existence in the city clerk's office in Providence, they dis- 
posed of part of the real and personal estate to the widow, part for life and 
part in fee, and divided the residue among the children as tenants in fee tail 
general, with cross remainders. This is believed to be peculiar to this col- 
ony." Code of 1647, p. 50, note. 

VOL. I — 14 



210 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, them up to shooting. Violation of this statute was piin- 

,J]^ ishecl by a fine wliich the father was to pay for the son, 

1647, the master for the servant, and to deduct it from his 
May 
19-21. ^'^^'S'e«- 

At the close of the criminal and other general statutes 

of the code occur these remarkable words : — 

" These are the laws that concern all men, and these 
are the penalties for the transgression thereof, which, by 
common consent, are ratified and established throughout 
the w^holc colony ; and, otherwise than thus what is herein 
forbidden, all men may walk as their consciences persuade 
them, every one in the name of his God ; and let the 
saints of the Most High walk in this colony without mo- 
lestation, in the name of Jehovah their God, forever and 
ever." 

Tluis they deny the existence of any crime not speci- 
fied in the code, and expressly permit any act not therein 
forbidden. The famous statutes of 2d Elizabeth, con- 
cerning uniformity and ecclesiastical supremacy were not 
" conformable to the nature and constitution of the place." 
The code preserves as significant a silence on this subject 
as does the charter upon which it is based, while the last 
clause of this ajipended sentence proves that it was by no 
oversight that the aforenamed acts of intolerance were 
not recognized in Rhode Island. 

The concluding sections of the code, " Touching the 
public administration of justice," relate to the appoint- 
ment of ofiicers, very fully defining the duties of each, 
and regulate the proceedings in Courts. By these it ap- 
pears that the President and Assistants had no part in 
legislation. That power was reserved to the General As- 
sembly of all the people, and to the Courts of Commis- 
sioners, six from each town, appointed at this time. Thus 
it remained until altered by the royal charter. They 
composed the General Court of Trials, having cognizance 
of weighty offences, and were also a Court of Appeal in 



DEATH OF CANONICUS. 211 

cases that were too difficult for tlie town Courts to decide, chap. 

Causes between different towns, or between citizens and .^.^..^..L^ 

strang;ers were also tried by them. This Court met in 16 47. 

^ ... May 

May and October. The town Courts had original juris- 19.21. 

diction in suits among their own citizens. The President 
was conservator of the Peace over the colony, and the As- 
sistants in their respective towns, where they also acted 
as Coroners. Besides these officers there were a General 
Recorder, a Public Treasurer, and a General Sergeant ; 
afterwards ' a General Attorney and a General Solicitor 
were added. - 

Such were the proceedings of the first General As- 
sembl}" of Rhode Island. From them we may gather the 
spirit of all her subsequent legislation, and with a knowl- 
edo;e of the condition of affairs in England, and in the 
neighboring colonies at this period, we may almost foresee 
the leading events of her history. The young Common- 
wealth was now fairly started on its career of progress, 
with no precedents to guide its earnest statesmen in their 
perplexities ; nothing but their own clear minds and 
strong; hearts could aid them in solvino- the two i>;randest 
problems in civil government. Well has the philosophi- 
cal historian of the United States said of Rhode Island : 
" Had the territory of the State corresponded to the im- 
portance and singularity of the principles of its early ex- 
istence, the world would have been filled with w^onder at 
the phenomena of its history-^" 

The death of Canonicus, the earliest and firmest friend June 
of Rhode Island, took place at this time. The venerable 
sachem of the Narragansets, who was an old man when 
the first plantation was made at Providence, just lived to 

' III May, 1650. 

" The similarity between the New England Confederacy of 1043 and tlje 
National Confederation of 1783 has been often remarked ; but there is yet a 
stronger resemblance in the relative position of the four towns of Rhode Island 
in 1C47, and the States of the Federal Union under the constitution of 1787. 

= Bancroft's Hist, of U. S., i. 380. 



June 
4 



212 HISTOKY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, see the scattered and feeble settlements of tlie English 
Jl"' united into one Province. He died at a critical period in 
1 G4 7. the history of his nation, when they were striving hy vain 
delays to evade the ruinous treaty imposed on them by 
the New England confederates. As he passed in review 
the events of his long and chequered life, it is no wonder 
that his declining years were clouded by gloomy forebod- 
ings. Under the guidance of his warlike ancestor, Tash- 
tassuck,^ the tribe had become a nation, and successive 
conquests had swelled the nation into an empire. Long 
before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Kock, Canonicus 
had inherited the sceptre of a wide-spread dominion, by 
lar the most powerful of any that were found by the Eng- 
lish. He was " a wise and peaceable Prince," aiming 
to advance his race in the arts of civilized life, even before 
any contact with the English had made them acquainted 
with the means and appliances of civilization. When 
conquest had secured his kingdom war was laid aside ; 
commerce and manufactures, limited and rude to be sure, 
were encouraged, and the Narragansets became rich as 
well as strong, spreading the knowledge of their language 
and the customs of their trade over a region of more than 
six hundred miles in extent.'- But the spell of their power 
was broken when the Pilgrims received the proposal of 
Ousamequin, or Massasoit, to form a friendly alliance. 
The defection of the Pokanokets carried watli them all 
their subordinate tribes, and since that time one after 
another of the native chiefs had deserted their proper 
prince, to seek the dangerous protection of the English. 
In all his intercourse with the English, from the time of 

' The Indian tradition is that he was greater than any prince in the conn- 
try, and having two children, a son and daughter, whom he coiihl not match 
in dignity, he married them to each other. Their issue was fonr sons, of 
whom Canonicus was the eldest. Hutchinson's Mass., i. 458, note. The Pe- 
ruvian Incas have a similar tradition respecting the origin of the foimder of 
their dynasty. 

^ Roger Williams' Key, i>. 18. 



NEWPORT AND PORTSMOUTH DISAGREE. 213 

his first treaty to the clay of his death, they could never chap. 
charge him with vioLated faith. Yet he coukl name ten _^_ 
different instances in which their solemn pledge to him 1(>4 7. 
and his tribe had been broken. " I have never suffered 
any wrong to be offered to the English since they landed, 
nor never will ; — if the Englishman sjieak true, if he 
mean truly, then shall I go to my grave in peace, and 
hope that the English and my posterity shall live in love 
and peace together." These were the truthful and half- 
desponding words once spoken by him to the Founder of 
Rhode Island, " in a solemn Assembly." There were 
reasons, and he recounted ten, for the doubting spirit that 
oppressed him, and which imparted to his language the 
saddening force of an omen. With the settlers of Rhode 
Island, whom he had received in their weakness, he ever 
maintained the most intimate and friendly relations ; and 
it should be said in justice to our ancestors that, from 
them, he never had cause to repent or to withhold his 
kindness. That he suffered from the jealousy of the other 
colonies, who were hostile alike to him and to them, is no 
fault of theirs ; while the fact that his unwavering fidel- 
ity to the founders of Rhode Island was the principal 
cause of his disasters, affords ample reason why their 
descendants should revere his virtues and embalm his 
memory. 

The union of the towns under one government did not 
serve to heal the disputes with which each one was mor.e 
or less disturbed. Their distinct powers were in no de- 
gree abridged by the compact they had formed. Their 
local affairs were as much under their own control as be- 
fore, and we shall soon see that even the burden of a gen- 
eral union, so essential to their strength, was more than 
they could bear. Between Newport and Portsmouth a 
difficulty arose as to their relative positions under the new 
government. For tlie past seven years they had, for the 
most part, acted together as one colony. Whether to 



Jnii. 

27. 



214 HISTOKY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, continue thus, or to act as separate towns, whicli was tlie 
_^__;^ reasonalile construction of tlie charter, appears to have 
16 4 7. been tlie question. The loss of the Newport records of 
this period leaves us only the fragmentary notices of meet- 
ings at Portsmouth, from which to conjecture the real na- 
ture and extent of this difference. By these it appears 
0. that certain messengers, sent by Newport to Portsmouth, 
were informed " that if they will joyn with us to act ac- 
cording to the General Corte order for this year wo are 
redie thereto, if not we must go bye ourselff by the corte 
order." It also appears that forty-one votes were given 
in Newport to act jointly, and twenty-four to act alone. 
Ana-. It was proposed to call a special meeting of the General 
Assembly, but the grounds for so doing were deemed in- 
1C47-S. sufficient. A few months later it was " voted unani- 
mously by the freemen of Portsmouth that they would 
act apart by themselves, and not jointly with Newport, 
and be as free in their transactions as anie of the other 
towns in the colonic." Providence was more distracted 
than either of the others by domestic difficulties, and 
many were the expedients proposed by her citizens to se- 
cure tranquillity. But they were too general in their na- 
ture, not bearing directly upon the specific causes of con- 
Dec, tention, to effect their object. One of these agreements 
adopted at Providence is transcribed by Judge Staples,' 
who justly says that little good could come of such instru- 
ments, since those w^ho signed them did not need them, 
and those who required them would not agree to them, 
and that every one was left as before to decide wdiether 
his own or other's acts were in accordance with their letter 
or spirit, and hence they would afford new causes of dis- 
pute, thereby endangering the peace they were intended 
to promote. The democratic element was too strongly 
infused, and the conservative principles that underlie it 
were as yet too little undcrstoud l)y a portion of the peo- 

' Annals of Providence, p. 70. 



GORTON AND WINSLOW IN ENGLAND. 215 

pie, to admit of that perfect harmony in civil concerns chap. 
which the successful application of the same doctrine of „^.,^.^ 
individual responsibility had already produced among 16 4 7. 
them in religious matters. It is an easier thing to apply 
the principle of personal liberty in religion than in poli- 
tics, in the affairs that relate solely to man and his Maker, 
than in those that pertain to human intercourse. Both 
applications of the great idea were equally novel. The 
one had already met with triumphant success, for eleven 
years of trial among men of various and earnest faith, 
had established its practicability, while the other was still 
an experiment of which the result as yet appeared doubtful. 
Gorton still remained in England, where his presence 
was required to counteract the designs of the Massachu- 
setts agent. Winslow attempted to justify the conduct 
of his government towards the men of Shawomet, by de- 
nouncing their heresies, but could not satisfy the Admi- • 
ralty that the Massachusetts had any jurisdiction beyond 
the bounds of their patent, although he pleaded that, 
" 1st, they were within the jurisdiction of Plymouth or 
Connecticut, and so the order of the Commissioners of the 
United Colonies had left them to those of the Massachu- 
setts ; and 2d, the Indians, upon whose land they dwelt, 
had subjected themselves and their land to their govern- 
ment." ' U2:)on this the committee of Parliament again 
wrote to Massachusetts, referring to their letter of the 
previous year, and declaring that " we intended not there- 
by to encourage any appeals from your justice, nor to re- 
strain the bounds of your jurisdiction to a narrower com- 
pass than is held forth by your Letters Patent, but to 
leave you with all that freedom and latitude that may, in 
any respect, be duly claimed by you," and adding that if 
it proves, as claimed, that Narraganset Bay falls wdthin 
the limits of Plymouth patent, it " will much alter the 
state of the question." Soon afterwards the committee 

' Hubbard's New England, 507. Wintlirop ii. 317. 



May 



216 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND. 

wrote anotlier letter, saying that they could not decide 
whether Shawomet was covered by any of the New Eng- 
land jiatents, without an examination on the spot, but if 
It should so prove they " commend it to the government, 
within whose jurisdiction they shall appear to be, not 
only not to remove them from their j)lantations, but also 
to encourage them with protection and assistance, in all 
fit ways ; provided that they demean themselves peacea- 
bly, &c," Letters to the same effect were sent to the 
other New England governments. ' 

It is difficult to see what encouragement could be 
drawn from these letters, by the parties to whom they are 
addressed, yet the Puritan chroniclers are jubilant over 
the prospect of having their illegal and outrageous pro- 
ceedings sanctioned by Parliament, and their agent at 
once " proceeded to have the charter, wdiich they had 
lately granted to those of Rhode Island and Providence, 
to be called in, as lying within the patent of Plymouth 
or Connecticut." In this we know he signally failed. 

The town of Warwick being received into the corpo- 
Aug. ration on equal terms with those mentioned in the char- 
^' ter, conformed to the orders of Assembly by electing a 
tov\'n council, and commenced keeping records. They 
made a com][)act, instigated by their position in regard to 
Massachusetts, and by the troubles resulting at Pawtuxet 
from the same source, binding themselves not to convey 
their property by sale, gift, or otherwise to any but those 
who should sign this agreement, and prohibiting such 
conveyance to any other jurisdiction on j)ain of disfran- 
chisement and of forfeiture of the whole estate to the 
town. This article formed the fundamental law of the 
town. Every inhabitant was required to sign his name to 
it. It was confirmed a few months later,- and was always 
known as " the grand law." 

' Both of these letters are given hi Winthrop, ii. ol8-20, and are copied 
by Hubbard, chap. Iv. 

" 2;>d January, 1G48. See Warwick records. 



RETUEN OF GORTON. 217 

But the Massacliusctts were careful not to lose their chap. 
hold upon Warwick through any lapse of watchfulness. ,Z^^ 
Some of their subjects had settled there, and the Indians l (5 4 7. 
of Shawomet were under their protection. Complaints 
were made by both of these of injuries received from in- 
truders. The corn of the natives had been destroyed, and 
an English house had been forcibly entered and its occu- 
pant threatened. The Greueral Court sent three messen- 1G47-8. 
gers to warn off the depredators, and to compel restitu- ^^''^^i- 
tion. In case they did not obtain satisfaction at War- 
wick, they were to jjroceed to Aquedneck and Providence, 
and demand of the authorities there whether they sanc- 
tioned these acts.' 

Gorton, no doubt satisfied that Winslow could effect l ** ^^ •^• 
. . . . Mav. 

nothing, returned to America in the spring. As in the 

case of Holdeu, the Court, upon his arrival at Boston, or- 
dered his arrest, A letter which he brought from the 
Earl of Warwick saved him from imprisonment, although 
so many favored violent proceedings, that the most urgent 
considerations of State policy alone prevented the Earle's 
request from being disregarded ; and Gorton was allowed 
to pass safely to his home only by the casting vote of tlie 
Governor. 

The General Assembly was then in session at Provi- -.j^, 
deuce. Two messengers - were sent to Boston with a let- 
ter " concerning the Warwick business," but on reaching 
Dedham they heard that the General Court was adjourned, 
and one of them, Barton, a resident of Warwick, wrote 22. 
to Gov. Winthrop to ascertain how he would be received 
by liim if he continued his journey. What reply, if any, 
was made to this letter, does not appear. The terms in 
which it is expressed are almost servile in their extreme 
courtesy. The narrow escape that Gorton had just had, 
although protected by the powerful Earl of Warwick, 

' Their instructions sire found in M. C. R., ii. 228. 
" Captain Clarke and Rufus Barton. 



218 IIISTOEY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, might well teach caution to the humble envoy of Kliode 
.^^^^^.^ Island, and the more so as he was one of the outlawed 
1048. company, perhaps himself involved in the recent com- 
plaints. His letter would not here be noticed but for the 
use made of it by Hubbard, the absurdity of which is too 
palpable to be passed over. He says : " By the style of 
this letter it appears how this company were crest-fallen, 
who but a little before had a mouth speaking great things 
and blasphemies ; but thanks be unto God, they had not 
power to continue very long ; for being now reduced to a 
little more sobriety in their language and behavior, they 
were permitted quietly to enjoy their possessions at Shaw- 
omet. This was the issue of the address made by these 
Gortouists to the Commissioners, who after the great 
clamor and noise they had made could make nothing ap- 
pear of that which they had affirmed." That the man- 
date of the Lord High Admiral of England, and of the 
Commissioners of Plantations should depend for its fulfil- 
ment upon the courtly expressions of a letter from an 
humble inhabitant of Warwick to the magnates of Mas- 
sachusetts, will excite a smile. That after this the Gor- 
touists " were permitted quietly to enjoy their posses- 
sions," should have caused them to feel ever grateful to 
their courteous messenger, who had so softened the hearts 
of their magnanimous oppressors.' Notwithstanding the 
concluding assertion of the Ipswich divine, the event 
proved that they made enough to appear not only to pre- 
vent the Parliament from revoking their first decision in 

' Taking Ilnblxird's absurd comment as correct, no more palpable instance 
can be found in bistoiy of the truth of the maxim that " nothing is lost by 
civility." Winthrop inserts Barton's letter, addressed to himself, but does not 
say what he did aboiit it, nor does he make any comments npou it. The 
bigotry of Hubbard must have been of the most Pharisaical and self-satisfy- 
ing kind to enable him to draw, from a private letter of the Warwick mes- 
senger, any solace for the wound inflicted upon ecclesiastical pretension by 
triumphant heresy. To attribiite, as he does, to the accidental phraseology 
of such a letter the subsequent compulsory forbearance of the Puritans, is 
simply ridiculous. 



ORGANIZATION OF THE COURT OF COMMISSIONERS. 219 

favor of the Gortonists, but also to have it confirmed, a chap. 
few years later, by Koyal charter, to the final discomfiture 
of their implacable enemies. 

An amendment of the law ors-aniziuo- the General 
Court was now made. This Court, composed of six men 
chosen from each town, soon came to be in fact the Gen- 
eral Assembly, althougli if any others chose to remain, 
those whose help was desired were allowed to do so. In 
case any town refused to elect members, the Court, by 
this amendment, was required to choose for them. The 
General Court, as now constituted, was often called the 
Court of Commissioners, or the " Committee " — a name 
still preserved in styling the two branches of Assembly, 
when united for the choice of officers, " the Grand Com- 
mittee." The act making this body a General Court of 
trials was continued. In their judicial capacity they were 
to hear causes in the place where the action arose or the 
criminal was arrested, and at such times as were appointed 
by law. Hence, we presume, arose the custom, existing 
until a recent date, of the General Assembly's meeting in 
the different chief towns of the State. 

The first business of the Assembly, or " General Court 
of Election," as it was termed, when opened for the 
choice of general officers, was to go into the election. A 
Moderator and Clerk were chosen ; the State officers were 
then elected. The Clerk of Assembly was required t-o 
send a copy of the proceedings to each town. 

The changes made at this time were remarkable, when 
we consider that it was the first election since the gov- 
ernment was organized. They indicate already the exist- 
ence of opposing parties. William Coddington was elect- 
ed President, Eoger Williams of Providence, William 
Balston of Portsmouth, John Smith of Warwick, and 
Jeremy Clarke of Newport, Assistants. The latter was 
also continued in his office of Treasurer. PhiKp Sher- 
man was chosen General Kecorder, and Alexander Par- 



220 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, tridge, General Sergeant. By tlie list of tlie twenty-fonr 
^2J^ members of this Assembly, it appears that one might be 
10 48. a member from any town, and at the same time a general 
^ ^^' ofiicer. The towns were ordered to meet within ten days 
to choose their town officers. The " Act made and ao;reed 
npon for the well-ordering of this Assembly/' correspond- 
ing to our modern " Kules and Orders/' is worthy of at- 
tention for the conciseness and simplicity with which it 
regnlates the business and decorum of the legislative 
body. 

"■ It is ordered, Tliat y" Moderator shall cause y" Clark 
of y" Assembly to call over the names of the Assembly. 

" That the Moderator shall appoint every man to take 
his place. 

" That all matters presented to the Assembly's con- 
sideration, shall be presented in writing by bill. 

" That each bill be fairly discust, and if by y' major 
vote of the Assembly it shall be putt to a committee to 
draw up an order, which being concluded by y" vote, 
shall stand for an order threwout y' whole colony. 

" That the Moderator shall putt all matters to vote. 

" That every man shall have liberty to speak freely to 
any matter propounded yett but once, unless it be by 
lease from y' Moderator. 

" That he that stands up first uncovered, shall speake 
first to the cause. 

" That the Moderator by y" vote of y' Assembly shall 
rejoarne or dissolve j" Court, and not without, at his 
great perile. 

'' That he that shall returne not to his place at y' 
time appointed, shall forfeitt sixpence, 

" That they that whisper or disturb y" Court, or usetli 
nipping terms, shall forfeitt sixpence for every fault.' 
" Wm. Dyre, Clerk of the Assembly." 

' Were tlio latter rule, especially the last clause of it, now in force, it 
wouM aid the revenue of the State ; although it might be difiicult to define 
with the precision of a statute what should bo held as " nipping terms." 



CONTINUED DISAGREEMENT AT AQUEDNECK. 221 

Complaints were made at tins Assembly against the chap 
President elect. He was not present at the election, nor ^^^■ 
did he appear to repel the charges, whatever they were, l G4S. 
That he was chosen to that high office under such circum- "^' 
stances seems strange. As he continued to absent him- 
self Jeremy Clark, Assistant, of Newport, was chosen to 
fill his place temporarily, with the title of President Ke- 
gent ; and provision was made that in case of vacancy by 
the death, or absence from the colony, of the President, 
then the Assistant of that town from which the President 
was chosen should supply his place. 

The dissensions on the Island were not healed by this May 
Assembly. Just before it met, the Town Clerk of Ports- ''^' 
mouth was ordered to inform Newport of their decision to 
act separately The proceedings of the Assembly seem 
to have widened the breach. It appears that even " the 
legality of the Corte and orders thereof" was questioned ^^"Iv 
by Portsmouth. There was evidently some serious trou- 
ble on the Island, threatening the existence of the colo- 
ny." Portsmouth was disaffected, and the conduct of 
Coddington favored the alienation. His subsequent acts 
may furnish a clue to his motives at this time. Roger 
WiUiams, who appears as a peacemaker in all the troubles 
of the colony, wrote a letter to the town of Providence, -^"s- 
wherein he represents the State as distracted by two par- 
ties, Portsmouth and its partisans being one, and the re- 
maining three towns the other, and suggested a plan of 
reference by which the dispute might be settled, viz. , that 
Portsmouth and its friends should select three men, and 
the other towns three, one from each, whose decision 

' It is probable that this difference between Portsmouth and Newport re- 
ferred to the Courts of trials which up to this time had been held jointly by 
the two towns, but were now appointed by the General Assembly to be held 
separately in each town. This view is strengthened by the passage of an 
act at the first meeting of the Assembly after the reunion, giving these towns 
leave to hold their Courts jointly or apart as they pleased. Sec Act No. 13, 
Sept. session, 165-1. 



222 HIRTOKY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, slioultl be final. Unfortunately Mr. Williams does not 
^^^.^ mention tlie causes of disagreement. That affairs in 
16 4 8. England, now approaching a crisis, had some influence in 
these contentions is more than probable. Coddington was 
a royalist, and wns about attempting to withdraw the 
island from the other towns and unite it to Plymouth. 
Clarke and Easton were republicans, and leaders of the 
dominant party on the island. 

The hostile attitude of the Indians, occasioned by the 
determination of the United Colonies to protect Uncas at 
every hazard, from the punishment due to his crime at 
the hand of the Narragansets, caused more serious alarm 
than ever before. The dissensions prevailing among them, 
those of Shawomet and Pawtuxet ovs^ning allegiance to 
Massachusetts, and viewing as enemies all Englishmen 
whom she denounced, while the Niantics and Nipmucks 
remained true to their propej princes, made the situation 
of Khode Island, surrounded as she was by these dis- 
Sept. ti-acted and exasperated tribes, extremely perilous. The 
inhabitants of Warwick suffered severely from this cause. 
A letter written by Mr. John Smith, Assistant, in behalf 
of the town, was carried by Eandal Holden and John 
Warner to Plymouth, v^diere the New England Commis- 
'' sioners were convened. They complained that the In- 
dians had killed their cattle, abused their servants, en- 
tered their houses by force, maltreating the occupants, 
and stealing their goods ; and desired advice on. the sub- 
ject. This was a proper course to adopt, since those In- 
dians were under their protection. But the island of 
PJiode Island went stiU further. Mr. Coddington, who 
had been chosen President of the colony, but had never 
taken his engagement, with Captain Partridge, the Gen- 
eral Sergeant, presented, at the same time, a written re- 
rpiest, signed by themselves in behalf of PJiode Island, 
" That wee the Ilandcrs of Ptoode Hand may be recaived 
into combination with all the united colonyes of New 



AQUEDNECK ASKS TO JOIN THE N. ENGLAND LEAGUE. 223 

England in a prime and perpetuall league of friendship chap. 

and amity : of ofence and defence, Mutuall advice and , ___. 

succor upon all just occasions for our mutuall safety and 16 4 8. 
wellfaire, and for preserving of peace amongst ourselves, ' 7. 
and preventing as much as may bee all occasions of warr 
and Diference, and to this our motion we have the consent 
of the major part of our Hand." ' 

This appears almost like an act of treason against the 
colony ; much more so than those acts which a few years 
later gave rise to the frimous trials for that crime. But 
the imminent danger to which they were exposed might 
excuse a greater sacrifice than they proposed, while it ' 

makes the refusal they received appear absolutely inhu- 
man. That the islanders intended nothing more than a 
defensive alliance which would not compromise their posi- 
tion as members of the colony under the charter, may be 
infeiTcd from their refusal of the offered terms of safety. 
It is unfortunate that any expression occurs in the petition 
that could be construed as an allusion to their internal 
difficulties, for it strengthens the evidence that Codding- 
tou, and many whom he represented, inclined to accede to 
the terms imposed. The Commissioners, in their reply, 
commiserate the petitioners upon their domestic strifes, 
and the dangers of their position, but, claiming the island 
to be within Plymouth patent, they refuse the request un- 
less this claim should be recognized. This answer might 
have been expected from the treatment Rhode Island had 
before received.- It is said that Coddington and the town 
of Portsmouth were willing to accept the condition, but 
were prevented by the other towns. liad they submitted 
the charter would have been virtually annulled hv the act 
of its holders, and the schemes of the surrounding colo- 
nies to appropriate the rest of the State might have 

' Hazard's State Papers, ii. 99. 

^ In Oct., IGiO, when a league was first proposed, and in May, 164" 
when it was formed. 



12. 



224 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

proved successful. ' Rhode Island would soon have heen 
absorbed by Massachusetts and Connecticut. 

The notice taken of the Warwick complaint was rather 
remarkable. The Commissioners wrote a letter to the 
sachems, advising them to abstain from such conduct in 
future, and telling them that, if they received any injury 
from the English, satisfaction should be given them, as the 
like would be expected from them.^ The mildness of this 
rebuke to their offending subjects, contrasts with the se- 
verity of the terms dictated to the islanders. Scarcely 
had this missive been sent when letters were received from 
Eoger Williams and others, warning the United Colonies 
of preparations making by the Narragansets to renew the 
war on Uncas. Messengers were sent to Pessacus requir- 
ing him to desist, and demanding anew the arrears of 
tribute. Acts of violence were becoming daily more fre- 
quent. The United Colonies, as they were in no small 
degree the cause of these outrages, were looked to for re- 
dress by the sufferers. Henry Bull, of Newport, soon af- 
terward complained that he had lieen beaten l)y some 
Narraganset Indians, and asked aid in obtaining satisfac- 
tion. He was referred to Rhode Island for relief, and 
further referred to the advice lately given to the islanders 
how they might secure protection. A copy of the letter 
to the sachems, that was given to the Warwick men, was 
also furnished to him, " for his future security." This 
paper, in the opinion of the Commissioners, possessed the 
virtue of a passport. 

' Hutchinson, i. p. 150, note, tays : " Plyniouth ^youl(I soon have been 
swallowed up in Rhode Island from the great superiority of the latter. Be- 
sides, the principles of the people of the two colonies were so diffci-ent that a 
junction must have rendered both miserable." But as Plymouth was herself 
annexed to Massachusetts in 1G92, when the provincial government was 
formed under Sir William Phipps, the whole of Rhode Island, under this sup- 
position, except the lung's province, claimed by Connecticut, would then 
have belonged to Massachusetts. 

= Hazard, ii. 100-1. 



(Jet. 



CODDINGTON SAILS FOR ENGLAND. 225 

Cocldington, having failed in bis attempt to detach the chap. 
island from the other towns, soon after sailed for England 
to procure for it a separate charter. His design was not 
known at the time. His daughter accompanied him, and 
Caj^tain Partridge was left to manage his aifairs, includ- 
ing, no doubt, his political interests. 

The discovery of what was supposed to be gold and 
silver ore upon the island, caused great excitement in the 
colony, A special meeting of the General Assembly was ^^^'■^'' 
held at Warwick. No record of it remains, but by the 
letter of Eoger Williams, and from other sources, we are 
informed of its proceedings. The distracted state of the 
towns, and the importance attached to this discovery of 
precious metals, probably led to the meeting. The vio- 
lence of party spirit had so compromised many of the 
leading men in the colony that, to the sagacious mind of 
Williams, the only mode of escape from increasing dan- 
ger was by the passage of a general '^ act of oblivion." At 
his suggestion such an act was passed. Mr. Williams 
was not present at that session, but was elected Deputy 
President of the Colon}", j^robably owing to his constant 
efforts to promote peace. He declined the honor, and in 
a letter to Mr. John Winthrop ^ says, " I hope they have 
chosen a better,'"' but they did not, and Mr. Williams 
acted as President till the election in May. 

' The son of Gov. Wintlirop of Massachusetts, himself afterwards Gover- 
nor of Connecticut. The father died at this time, March, 1G49, so that we 
have no longer his reliable journal, the last entry in which is on Jan. 11th, as 
a guide. This book, with its full and admirable notes by the editor, Hon. 
James Savage, is worth aU the other authorities on this period of New Eng- 
land history put together. The lines of Milton, quoted by the translator of 
the Decameron, will aj)ply with greater force to Savage's Winthrop's Jour- 
nal : — 

" Hither, as to their fountains, other stars 
Eepairing, in their golden urns draw light." 

In fact they all draw from him, while Hubbard, whose General History of 
New England was more esteemed when it was less known, in the only reliable 
portion? of his work, copies verbatim from the ]\IS. of Wintlirop, which was 
not then (IGSO) printed, and carefully conceals the source of his information. 

VOL. I 15 



22(j HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP. The Assembly passed an act taking possession of the 

^2Jr-^ mines in the name of the State of England, and forbade 
1 6 4 9. all persons from interfering with the ore. The Clerk pub- 
lished the jjroclamation, and the arms of England and of 
the Earl of Warwick were set up at the mine. Closer 
examination dispelled the illusion. A more certain and 
less demoralizing source of wealth has, within a few j-ears, 
been developed in the discovery of coal mines on the 
island, now in profitable operation.' 
14. Special charters of incorporation were granted at this 

session to the several towns. That of Providence, granted 
on petition of the town, is given by Judge Staples, and 
follows closely the terms of the colonial charter. War- 
wick had one of the same date. The Portsmouth records 
of their next town meeting held for the election of officers," 
refer to " the j^articular charter granted unto them for 
choosing their town officers." A similar one must have 
been given to Newport at the same time. 

The intolerance of the General Court of Massachu- 
setts was again shown towards Kandal Holden, who peti- 
tioned that his sentence of banishment might be revoked, 
to enable him to give his personal attention to some bus- 
iness that required his presence in Boston. The favor 
was refused, and he was informed that his affairs could 
be as well conducted by an attorney as by himself.^ 
22. The regular session of the Court of Commissioners 

was held at Warwick and lasted four days. John Smith 
of Warwick was chosen President ; Thomas Olney of 
Providence, John Sandford of Portsmouth, John Clarke 

' An account of tliese nuiius with the causes of tlicir failure when first 
opened, and the reasons for tlioir subsequent success, is given by Dr. Jackson 
in his Report on the Geological Survey of Rhode Island, made in 1.S40, p. 
95-104. Since the date of this Report the business has been revived, and is 
now conducted with profitable results. 

- On first Monday of June, IGii). 

= M. C. R., ii. 275. 



May 



FRAUDULENT VOTING. SALE OF SPIRITS FORBIDDEN. 227 

of Newport, and Samuel Gorton of Warwick, Assistants ; chap. 

John Clarke Treasurer, and Kicliard Knight, Sergeant. ..^-^-^ 

Already had fraudulent voting, the bane of all free 16 4 9. 
. May 

governments, appeared in the colony. The system of 22! 

proxies afforded facilities for this, which it was attem2)ted 
to prevent by requiring that no one should bring any 
votes that he did not receive from the voters' own hands, 
and that all votes should be filed by the Kecorder in pres- 
ence of the Assembly. The fall in the price of beaver in 
England, and the increased manufacture of peage by the 
Indians, had reduced the value of that currency nearly 
one-half The depreciation was not so great in Khode 
Island, where this medium continued to be used much 
longer than in the other colonies, but a law was passed 
lowering the standard of black peage, which was double 
the value of the white, one-third. Four, instead of three, 
for a penny was now made the legal rate. Prisons were 
ordered to be built in each town ; meanwhile the one at 
Newport was nsed for the whole colony, and the General 
Sergeant was appointed to keep it. The organization of 
the Court of Trials, heretofore composed of the members 
of Assembly alone, was amended by adding to it the mag- 
istrates of the town where the Court might be held. The 
sale of ardent spirits to the natives was forbidden, except 
that Mr. Williams was allowed to dispense it, in cases of 
sickness, at his discretion. This law displays a commend- 
able regard for the welfare of the Indians, and an honora- 
ble confidence in the Founder of the State. 

There was a strong feeling in Rhode Island in favor of 
Mr. John Winthrop, son of the late Governor of Massa- 
chusetts, who before the Pequot war had made a purchase 
near Thames river, which the government of Connecticut 
had recently refused to recognize. It was thought that 
he might move further east, perhaps to Pawcatuck, in 
which case many desired to make him President of the 
colony, and his name was used for that purpose in this 



228 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND, 

election. He had been suggested as one of the referees 
in the difficnlty with Portsmouth the previous summer. 
Tlie liberality of the Winthrops, often displayed by the 
lather in his trying position as Governor of Massachu- 
setts, and inherited by the son, their close friendship with 
the Founder of Rhode Island, and the sympathy they 
manifested with the struggling colony on more than one 
occasion, all go to account for this partiality. 
/ The desire for public service was so little felt by our 

/ ancestors, that heavy fines were imposed upon any who 
should refuse to accept an office. Any one elected Presi- 
dent, and declining to act, was to be fined ten pounds ; 
or an Assistant five pounds, and his place was to be filled 
by the person having the next highest number of votes. 
A similar law was enacted in the towns to compel the ac- 
y ceptance of town offices. In Portsmouth, whoever was 

\. chosen to be a magistrate and refused was fined six pounds, 
and for an inferior office the fine was fifty shillings. The 
reciprocal engagement of the State and its officers was 
also administered to the towji councils in the following 
form : " You, A. B., being called and chosen by the free 
vote of the inhabitants of Portsmouth unto the office of 
a town magistrate, in his Majesty's name, do in this pres- 
ent assembly engage yourself faithfully to execute the of- 
fice of a justice of the peace, in the due execution of jus- 

: tice in this town, according to the laws established unto 
us by our particular charter, according to the best of your 
understanding. The town reciprocally engage themselves 
in his Majesty's name, to maintain you in the just execu- 
tion of your office, according to the best of their under- 

•- standing." The use of the words " in his Majesty's 

'i name," in a formula adopted just at this time is peculiar. 

\ The King was beheaded on the 30th of January. News 

'i of his death had reached the colony either while the As- 
\ sembly was in session, or shortly before it met, yet no no- 
\ tice was taken of it by that body — possibly because it yet 



FOURTH GENERAL ELECTION. 229 

needed coufirination. And this might be the reason why chap. 
the freemen of Portsmouth, as a matter of precaution, ^^...^.^ 
retained the old form of expression ; or perhaps that they 16 4 9. 
did so was owing to the fact of the predominance of the ^ 
royalist or Coddington party in that town. The news was 
confirmed by an arrival from England the following week. 

The Warwick men again wrote to the Commissioners 
of the United Colonies, sitting at Boston, to complain of July 
the Indians, and to remind them of the order of Parlia- 
ment that they should be protected.^ The Commission- 
ers, in their reply, deny having received any such com- 
mand, or that the petitioners could reasonably expect aid 31. 
in their position, but say they are ready to obey the order 
requiring them to ascertain imder what patent the lands 
of Warwick are included.- 

The next General Court of election was held at New- i q 5 o. 
port at the same time with that at Boston. At both bus- 
iness of great importance, affecting the relations of the 
two colonies, was transacted. That there was some diffi- 
culty in this election is evident from the record of a vote 
that it should " be authentic notwithstanding all obstruc- ^P 
tions against it." 

Nicholas Easton was chosen President ; William 
Field of Providence, John Porter of Portsmouth, John 
Clarke of Newport, and John Wicks of Warwick, Assist- 
ants ; Philip Sherman, Eecorder ; Richard Knight, Ser- 
geant, and Johu Clarke, Treasurer. An Attorney Gen- 
eral and Sohcitor General were also appointed, for the 
first time, and their duties defined. William Dyre was 
chosen to the first-named office, and Hugh Bewett to the 
latter. The committee of each town, which should con- 
sist of six men, were empowered to fill any vacancy in 
their number. It was also ordered that in case any mem- 
ber, upon complaint and trial, should prove to be unfit to 
hold his seat, the Assembly might suspend him, and 

' 111 tbe letter of July 22, 1G47, ante. = Hazard, ii. 135. 



230 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

clioose another iu his place. Heretofore the Assembly had 
been usually styled " the Court of Commissioners," the 
term General Assembly applying only to a meeting of all 
the people ; but we have seen that gradually the legisla- 
tive j)ower had centred in this Court, and they now, for 
the first time, style themselves the General Assembly, 
and fix their salaries at two and sixpence a day. ' ■ - 

The order apportioning the amount of military stores 
to be kept by each town, gives an idea of their relative 
strength at this period. Providence and Warwick were 
each to have one barrel of powder, five hundred pounds 
of lead, six pikes and six muskets in their magazines, fit 
for service. Portsmouth was to have twice this amount, 
or as much as both of these towns, and Newport was to 
have three barrels of powder, a thousand pounds of lead, 
twelve pikes and twenty-four muskets. Each town was 
to regulate its own militia. 

By an order of the previous Assembly letters had been 
sent to the Pawtuxet men, respecting their allegiance to 
the colony, and a summons issued to the sachems of Paw- 
tuxet and Shawomet to attend upon the Court. This 
procedure led the parties to petition the General Court of 
Massachusetts, complaining, as usual, of injuries received, 
and asking redress. Upon this the General Court ad- 
dressed a letter to Pihode Island, advising all whom it 
concerned, not to prosecute any suits against the subjects 
of Massachusetts, nor to do them any harm till they 
should hear again from the Court, which would not be long. 
June A committee was appointed to treat with Plymouth 
about the title to the land of Shawomet and Pawtuxet, 
and protection to the English and Indian subjects of Mas- 
sachusetts at those places. The Court adjourned for a few 
days to await the issue of the negotiation. The General 
Court of Plymouth was then in session. By a formal in- 
strument they resigned all claim to the territory in ques- 
tion, yielding in every thing to the proposals of Massachu- 



so 



PLYMOUTH CEDES DISrUTED LANDS TO MASSACHUSETTS. 231 

settS;, but with one proviso, that does honor to their sense chap. 
of justice, and to their clearness of perception, viz., that ^^ 
the lands of Providence shoukl not be inchided in the relin- 10 5 0. 
quishmont, but should remain as before to be freely enjoyed ' y 
by the inhabitants. That Providence should be named 
at all in the deed of cession, since it was not referred to 
in the instructions of the Committee, is proof that Ply- 
mouth suspected, and not without reason, that the design 
of Massachusetts embraced more than she professed, and 
by making this exception she declared her own opinion of 
the rights of the people in Providence, and barred any 
claim that Massachusetts might afterward set up to that 
territory, based upon the action of Plymouth in this case. ' 
The Court liaving reassembled at Boston, received the re- ^, 
port of their committee, and proceeded to annex their 
newly-acquired possessions to the county of Suffolk. 
They also, in gratitude to Captain Atherton, for his ser- 20. 
vices in this and in the brutal affair with Pessacus,' voted 
him a farm of five hundred acres. The officers of the 
County Court were authorized to treat with any of the 
Warwick associates who might appear to complain of this 
outside disposition of themselves and their property. 

There is one question that the high contracting par- 
ties to this remarkable transfer of land and power, 'to 
which neither had any right, quite overlooked. Admit- 
ting that the claim of either one of them under their pa- 
tents was valid, how could that one lawfully divest itself 
of, or invest another government with, a portion of its 
power ; or how could the recipient, simply on the ground 
that the cession was voluntary, enlarge the limits of its 
own patent ? The illegality on both sides is apparent. 
The injustice to the rightful owners need not be consid- 
ered after the outrages they had suffered seven years be- 
fore. 

These acts called for decisive action on the part of 

' M. C. R, iv. Part I. 14-20. - Close of chap, vi., ante. 



232 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP. Rliodc Island. The President of the colony called a con- 
J^^ vention, composed of a special committee of three from each 
] 6 5 0. town, to meet at Portsmouth, to deliberate on the con- 

21/ ^^^^^^ ^f Massachusetts in the premises. No report of their 
proceedings can be found. But these convenient inter- 
changes of jurisdiction were not yet ended. The Com- 
missioners of the United Colonies advised, for many co- 
Sejjt. gent reasons, that Warwick and Pawtuxet should be re- 

1'5- stored to Plymouth.' The General Court jdelded the 

Ig/ point, and re-assigned the territory to Plymouth." Pres- 
ident Easton had written to Massachusetts that Rhode 
Island and Warwick now formed one colony, and would 
defend her rights. Letters were sent to Ehode Island, 

■^'^' forbidding her to exercise jurisdiction over Shawomet, to 
the Pawtuxet men to transfer their allegiance to Ply- 
mouth, and to Gov. Bradford that he should protect them 
and the subject Indians. 

26. The General Assembly met at Portsmouth. The or- 

der prescribing the mode of passing general laws was re- 
pealed and a new one made. The Assembly, or " Repre- 
sentative Committee,'' as it is here termed, having enacted 
any laws, these were to be sent to the towns within six 
days after the adjournment, and then, w^ithin three days, 
to be read in town meeting. Any freeman who disliked 
the laws or any one of them, was to send his vote, with 
his name upon it, wdthin ten days after the reading, to 
the General Recorder. If a majority were found to op- 
pose it the Recorder should signify the fact to the Presi- 
dent, and the President to the towns, that such law was 
annulled. Silence as to the rest was considered assent. 
Banishment, as a punishment, was abolished. Divorce 
was prohibited except, at the suit of the party aggrieved, 
for adultery. 

Roger Williams was urged once more to go to Eng- 
land. The active measures taken by the other colonies 

' Hazard ii. 153-'4. ^ M. C. R. iii. 216. 



FKESH TROUBLES THREATEN THE COLONY. 233 

in regcaixl to Warwick and Pawtuxet, required that Kliode chap. 
Island should be represented before the Committee of J}^ 
Plantations. The sum of one hundred pounds voted 165 0. 
three years before, in remuneration of his services in ob- 20 
taining the charter, had never been paid, although at- 
tempts had been made to raise the money by taxation. 
The Assembly now voted to pay the arrears, and one 
hundred pounds more, if he would go a second time, but 
if he would not, Mr. Balston, John Clarke and John War- 
ner were named, any two of them to go. 

This was the last session of the General Assembly, as 
at first constituted, under the charter. A more serious 
calamity than any that the malice or the ambition of her 
neighbors could inflict, was about to overwhelm the State, 
and for a time to palsy the arm of the sons of Ehode 

Island. ^ n --, 

1 Oo 1. 

In the following spring there was no meetmg of the Maj 
Assembly. News of Coddington's design had been re- 
ceived, although his success was not yet knowm. Con- 
sternation pervaded the colony. Within and without, at 
home and abroad, enemies to the peace and hberty of the 
State appeared on every side. The Pawtuxet men com- 
plained to Massachusetts that Providence had assessed 
them to the amount of twelve pounds ten shilKngs, and 
on their refusal to pay the tax had threatened them with 
distraint. Upon this the General Court sent a letter to 22. 
Roger Williams, warning him that if this levy was made 
they would seek satisfaction " in such manner as God 
shall put into their hands."' Amid these complicated 

^ M. C. R. iii. 228, and iv. part. i. 46. There could be no mistaking the 
meaning of this. Tiio Puritans in their dealings with their weaker neigh- 
bors, English or Indians, evidently believed with the Great Frederick, that 
" Providence favors the strong battalions." Their reliance upon Divine aid 
in aU their forays, attempted or threatened, into Rhode Island, was of that 
commendably precautionary character displayed by Cromwell iu the order to 
his troops at " the crowning mercy of Worcester," which was fought on a 
rainy day — " Trust iu God but keep your powder dry ! " 



10. 



234 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, difficulties, an outrage was committed upon some of tlie 
,__^_;_, best men of Bliodc Island, wliicli is without a parallel 
i''51. save in the treatment of tlie Gortonists. Kev. John 
Clarke, pastor of the first Baptist church in Newport, 
Ohadiah Holmes, who shortly before had aided to estab- 
lish a church of tliat order in Seekonk, and, being pre- 
sented for it by the grand jury at the General Court of 
j^^ Plymouth, had fled to Newport,^ and John Crandall, a 
10. member of the same church, were deputed by the church 
to visit an aged member, residing near Lynn, who had re- 
cjuested an interview Avith some of his brethren. Arriv- 
ing at the place on Saturday, Mr. Clarke preached the 
next day to those who were in the house. While thus 
20. engaged tv\"o constables served on them a warrant for the 
arrest of the " erroneous persons, being strangers." In 
the afternoon they were carried to church by the officer, 
where, after service, Clarke addressed the congregation 
till silenced by a magistrate. Next day, although being 
under arrest, he administered the communion to the aged 
09 member of his church and to two others. The party were 
examined and ordered to be sent to Boston, where they 
25. were im})risoned to await their trial the following week. 
At the trial Gov. Endicott cliarged them with being ana- 
baptists. Clarke denied that he was either an anabaptist, 
a pedobaptist, or a catabaptist, and affirmed, that al- 
though he had baptized many he had never re-baptized 
any, for that infant baptism w^as a nullity. The others 
agreed in this, and the Court sentenced them u})on their 
own declarations, '•' without ]) reducing either accuser, wit- 
ness, jury, law of God, or man." Clarke was fined twenty 
pounds, Holmes thirty pounds, and Crandall five pounds, 
and in default of payment each was " to be well whipped.^' 
They refused to pay the fine, as that would be to admit 
their guilt when they felt they were innocent, and were 

' After the death of Dr. Clarke he succeeded him as pastor of the New- 
port church. Kuowles', 239, note. 



PERSECUTION OF THE BAPTISTS. 235 

committed to prison. On tlie following day Clarke, by a 
letter to the Court, challenged the members to a discus- 
sion of the doctrinal vieWs for which he had been con- 
demned. The magistrates appointed a time for the de- 
bate. Clarke prepared the heads of discussion, but be- 
fore the day arrived an order of Court was sent to the jail 
for his discharge, the fine having been paid by some one n 
without his knowledge. Anxious to hold the debate, and 
seeing how this ill-timed kindness might be represented 
as being caused by his desire to avoid it, Clarke, on the 
same day, renewed the challenge, offering to come to Boston 
at any time they might name. In their reply the Court 
seemed to accept the invitation, but fixed no time. Cotton 
was to be the chosen champion of Puritan theology — the 
man of all others, as the leader of their church, with 
whom Clarke most desired to meet, and to discuss the two 
great principles of Baptist faith, voluntary baptism and 
individual responsibility. These were the two grand 
points upon which Church and State in Massachusetts 
were .antagonist to the sentiment of Rhode Island. But 
although Mr. Clarke a third time notified the Court of his 
readiness, they failed to appoint a day, so that the debate 
was never held. Crandall was allowed to go home on 
bail, the jailer being his surety. Holmes was so cruelly 
whipped, receiving thirty lashes with a three-corded whip 
from the public executioner, that for many days he could gg.,|_ 
take no rest except by supporting himself on his elbows 5- 
and knees. Two of the spectators, one an old man named 
Hazel, who had come from Seekonk, fifty miles, to visit 
him in prison, were arrested for shaking hands with liim 
after the punishment was over, and were sentenced to pay 
a fine or to be whipped. The fine was paid by tlieir 
friends, but Hazel died before reaching home.' 

' See HI Newes from New England, by John Clarke, Loudon, 1652, 4to., 
76 pp. The writer consulted the copy in the British Museiim. This very 
scarce work by one of the ablest men of the seventeenth centiuy, and a 



li. 



236 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP. Thus severely was the savage law of 1644, against 

_,^_^ the anabaptists, carried out by magistrates and ministers, 
1661. who shunned a discussion of the doctrines which they ig- 
norantly denounced. 

founder of liliode Island, has lately been reprinted by the Mass. Hist. Soc, 
in the 2d vol. of the 4th series of their Collections. 



ARRIVAL OF CODDINGTON IN ENGLAND. - 237 



CHAP 



16 4 6. 



CHAPTEE VIII. 

1651—1663. 

FROM THE USURPATION OF CODDINGTON, AUGUST, 1631, TO THE 
ADOPTION OF THE ROYAL CHARTER, NOVEMBER, 1663. 

When Coddington arrived in England tlie Kiug was 
already beheaded, the House of Lords had been voted ^^^^• 
useless, the Commonwealth was declared, and the supreme i g 4 1). 
power vested in the hands of forty persons as a Coun- 
cil of State. A revolution as complete had taken place 
in ecclesiastical affairs. Episcopacy had been abolished 
three years before ; the Directory had supplanted the 
Liturgy ; a greater part of the livings were distributed 
among the Presbyterian clergy, and finally Presbyterian- 
ism was established by act of Parliament as the national 
faith. The new church were as tenacious of their " di- 
vine right," as ever the old one had been. The rights of 
conscience were as little understood or respected by Pres- 
byterians as by Prelatists. Toleration was denied to the 
Independents by both alike. Humanity gained nothing 
by the change till the master-spirit of Cromwell curbed 
the persecuting will of these Protestant Papists. For 
two years the eiforts of Coddington were without result. 
More momentous concerns than any that related to distant 
plantations employed the Council. At length he obtained ^ q 5 ^ 
a hearing. By what representations, or through what in- . 



1649 



238 IIISTOKY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, flueiice lie succeeded in virtually iindoiug the acts of the 
.^^^^i^ Long Parliament in favor of Rhode Island, we can never 
16 51. laiow. He obtained from the Council of State a com- 
' 3 mission, signed by John Bradshaw, to govern the islands 
of Ehode Island and Connanicut during his life, with a 
council of six men, to be named by the people and ap- 
proved by himself. "With this authoritative document 
^"y* he returned home to sever the islands from the main land 
towns, and to be in effect the autocrat of. the fairest and 
wealthiest portion of the State. Great w^as the alarm 
felt throughout the colony, more especially by the large 
party in the noAv subjected islands who, being opposed to 
Coddington, found themselves, as they thought, at the 
mercy of a dictator. This party at once prepared to send 
John Clarke to England, to obtain a revocation of Cod- 
dington's powers. Providence and Warwick recognized 
the peril to which their charter was exposed, and has- 
tened the departure of Eoger Williams to secure to them 
8ei)t. again the rights he had first obtained. WiUiam Arnold, 
one of the Massachusetts subjects at Pawtuxet, wrote to 
the Commissioners of the United Colonies to inform them 
of this movement, that Warwick had already raised one 
hundred pounds, and men in Providence were giving ten 
or twenty pounds apiece to speed the object of Williams' 
mission. John Greene, in behalf of Warwick, the same 
day officially notified the Commissioners, that as the 
United Colonies had failed to conform to the order of 
Parliament to protect them, but as they " were bought 
and sold from one patent and jurisdiction to another," had 
been threatened with expulsion since the above order was 
received, summoned to attend Courts in Massachusetts, 
deprived of trade, and exposed to violence from both Eng- 
lish and Indians, therefore they should send a messenger 
to England to obtain redress, and the United Colonies 
might instruct their agents accordingly to prepare their 
answers. This official notice was a gratuitous act of 



I. 



WILLIAMS AND CLARKE PROCEED TO ENGLAND. 239 

courtesy on the part of Warwick that was not appreciated chap. 
by the Commissioners. ^ ^ 

The United Colonies coldly recognized the commission 1651. 
of Coddington, and addressed him a letter inquiriog what ' ]^g ' 
course he would pursue as to fugitives from justice ; 
whether he would return them on legal demand, or bring 
them to trial on the island. The Warwick letter caused 
much discussion. The Massaclmsetts members of the 
Commission presented a declaration on the. subject, to 
which those of Plymouth replied, disowning the cession 
made to Massachusetts the previous year, and protesting 
against the seizures she had made at Shawomet and 
Pawtuxet. The other members, on the ground that Ply- 
mouth had refused to accept the transfer made by Massa- 
chusetts, recognized the claim of the latter, and concluded 
that trespasses committed by tlie Warwick men should 
be punished by force if necessary, " but with as much 
moderation as may be." ^ 

A G-eneral Assembly of the two remaining towns was Oct. 
called, at which Samuel Gorton was chosen President. 
Roger Williams was urged, by every consideration that 
could move him in such a crisis, to leave home to advo- 
cate the cause of the colony in England. On the island 
forty-one of the inhabitants of Portsmouth, and sixty- 
five, being nearly all of the freemen, in Newport, joined 
to persuade Dr. Clarke to go out and obtain a repeal of 
Coddington's commission. They both consented to go. 
Mr. Williams was obliged to sell his trading-house in 
Narraganset, to sustain his family during his absence. 
The objects of their missions were distinct. Clarke was 
the agent of the island towns, to procure a repeal of 
Coddington's commission. Williams was the agent of 
the main land towns, to obtain a confirmation of their 
charter. In effect the same result was aimed at and se- 
cured — a return to their former mode of government by 

>■ Hazard's State Papers, ii. 198-203. 



Fov. 
4. 



240 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP. ^ reunion under tlie charter. The two agents sailed to- 

J^^^ gether, with some ditificulty securing leave to embark from 

16 51. Boston. / .. ., '- 

The Court of Commissioners, the relic of the colonial 
x\ssembly, being the committees of Providence and War- 
wick, met at Providence to consult on the state of the 
colony. They resolved to continue under the charter, 
making laws and choosing officers as before. They re- 
enacted sev.eral laws, modified to meet their present con- 
dition, and also i3assed an act forbidding the purchase of 
land from the Indians, without consent of the State, 

1 G5 2. Williams and Clarke presented a joint petition to the 

-M"''l Council of State, v/hich was referred to the committee on 
s 

foreign affairs. The island meanwhile quietly submitted 

to the rule of Coddington. The main land towns held 
May their regular Court of Election in the spring, John 
^^- Smith was chosen President of the colony ; Thomas 01- 
ncy of Providence, Samuel Gorton of AVarwick, General 
Assistants ; John Greene, jr., Kecorder ; Eandall Holden, 
Treasurer ; and Hugh Bewett, Sergeant. 

At this session the famous law against slavery was 
passed, believed to be, with one exception,^ the first leg- 
islative enactment in the history of this continent, if not. 
of the world, for the suppression of involuntary servitude. 
This law w^as designed to prevent both negro and white 
slavery, each of which was in use at that time. " By it no 
man could be held to service more than ten years from 
the time of his coming into the colony, at the end of 
which time he was to be set free. Whoever refused to 
let him go free, or sold him elsewhere for a longer period 
of slavery, was subject to a penalty of forty pounds. 

Between Ehode Island and the Dutch at Manhattan, 
there existed quiet an active trade, and occasional inter- 
marriages resulted from the intercourse thus maintained. 
A serious disturbance occurred at this time in Warwick. 

' The Act of MassacLusctts, dtli Nov., IGIG, in 2 M. C. R., 1G8. 



DUTCH DISTURBANCE AT WARWICK. 241 

The crew of a small Dutcli vessel which had arrived there* ciiai*. 
ill January, on a trading voyage, boarded for some two Jl^_!l_ 
months with John Warner, who was this year the Assist- ^ C -5 2. 
ant, or second magistrate of the town, and had stored 
their goods in his house for sale. One of these men, 
named Geraerd, was a brothcr-in-la-\v of Warner, both 
having married into the family of Ezeldel Holliman. 
Upon settling their accounts a disj^ute arose, which it 
was vainly attempted to adjust by arbitration, and the 
Dutchmen appealed io the Court. At their request a ^^ .j] 
special session was held. Warner refused to answer to 
the case, and judgment was entered against him by de- 
fault, and execution granted for the damages assessed by 
a jury. Warner's wife was also indicted upon suspicion 
of felony, and the case carried up to the Greneral Court of 
trials for the colony. The conduct of Warner before and 24. 
at this trial was so bad tliat he was degraded from his 
office as Assistant and disfranchised. A copy of the dec- 
laration was sent to Providence, and also to Massachu- 
setts, and the whole proceedings upon the case were after- 
wards forwarded to Koger AVilliams in England. A few j^^^^^^ 
weeks later, " upon suspicion of insufferable treachery 7. 
asainst the town," which is conveyed in the seventh item 
of the declaration, his house and lands were attached. 
For want of proof the property was shortly released, but j„i^. 
not without a formal protest being entered upon the rec- ''5- 
ords by the leading men of the town. The proceedings 
are so remarkable, and the form of the declaration, re- 
sembling somewhat the Indictment against Gorton,' is so 
curious that they should be preserved.'^ 

The war between England and Holland having com- y,^^. 
menced, the Dutcb were forbidden to trade with the In- 
dians in the colony, and the President was instructed to 
notify the Governor of Manhattan ^ of this prohibition. 

' Ante, cbap. vi. p. 120. '' See Appendix B. 

' Peter Stuyvcsant. This prohibition was repealed in May, 1657. 

VOL. I. — IG 



19. 



242 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

ruAF Letters from Eoger Williams caused a town meeting to 

._^_1, be held in Providence, at which a letter was directed to 

1 •; 5 2. he sent to Warwick, proposing a meeting of Commission- 

'27_^ ers to prepare suitable replies. The town of Warwick 

agreed to the proposal, and further suggested a conference 

29. with the island towns, with a view to their all uniting to 

obtain a renewal of the charter, as such united action 

would remove some obstacles then existing, by reason of 

the separate duties of the two agents, and would also help 

to secure to the colony the Narraganset country, which 

j^^^„ the Greenwich men were striving to obtain. A meeting 

2. was accordingly held, but no record of it remains. 

Another letter from Mr. AVilliams, sayins; that the 
Sept. . ? J o 

8. Council had granted leave to the colony to go on under 

the charter until the controversy was decided, gave great 
satisfaction. A few days later an order of Council was 
^^' issued vacating the commission of Coddington, and direct- 
ing the towns again to unite imder the charter. The 
mission was successful at every point. The agents re- 
mained in England on their private business, and also to 
sustain the rights of the colony, while William Dyre, who 
had probably gone out with them, returned home with the 
jojrful news. 

The General Assembly met at Providence, and passed 
two important acts, an alien and a libel law. By the 
former no foreigner was to be received as a freeman in any 
town, or to have any trade with the Indians, but by con- 
sent of the Assembly. The latter made disparaging lan- 
guage, spoken in malice, actionable i]i every town. They 
also wrote to Eoger W^illiams a letter of thanks for his 
services, the successful result of wliicli was not yet known 
to them, and proposed that he should get himself ap- 
pointed Governor of the colony for one year, as it would 
give weight to the government. This proposal affords the 
strongest proof of the respect and confidence felt in the 
colony towards its illustrious Founder. But AVUliams 



28. 



TRIAL OF BEWETT FOR HIGH TREASON. 243 

had little desire for power. Such a course would have chap 

established a dangerous precedent, and might appear to ^^ 

take from the colony a portion of its liberty in the selec- 1 1^ 5 2. 
tion of ofScers. They also wrote a letter to the town of 
Warwick, where doubts had been expressed as to the le- 
gality of the Assembly, protesting against such expres- 
sions as tending to discredit the authority of the Assem- 
bly, thereby weakening the government, and likewise af- 
firming both the validity of the committee chosen from 
Warwick, and the legality of the Court. The occasion 
for such a letter displays the lamentable distraction that 
2)ervaded the colony at this time. 

A more serious cause of dissension led to a special I^^^- 

20 
meeting of the Court of Commissioners at Warwick. 

The President of the colony and the Warwick Assistant, 
upon an examination before the Court of Trials, charged 
Hugh Bewett, one of the committee from Providence, 
with high treason. The trial lasted four days, and re- 
sulted in the acquittal of the prisoner, thus reversing the 
decision of the Court of Trials, and thereby increasing the 
divisions in the colony. The grounds of the indictment 
cannot now be ascertained. 

Upon the arrival of William Dyre from England, w^ith ic.-.o.y 
the repeal of Coddington's power, he wrote letters to FtO:). 
Warwick and to Providence, naming a day when he would 
meet all the freemen who chose to appear at Portsmouth, 
to communicate the orders of the Council of State. A 20. 
town meeting was held in Providence, at which, in accord- 
ance with a request from Warwick,^ a meeting of the 
Commissioners of the two towns was agreed upon. It 
was held at Pawtuxet the following week. This Assem- 
bly drafted a reply to a letter from the island, relating to 
a reunion of the colony, and appointed two of the mem- 
bers from each town to carry it, and to consult with those 
of the island concerning the peace and welfare of the 

'■ Warwick records of 22d Fcbniar}', 1652. 



25. 



244 HISTORY or the state of erode island. 

State. Their labor was fruitless. The point of difiiculty 
was this. The mainland towns contended that they were 

1652-3. the Providence Plantations, their charter never having 
been vacated, and tlieir government having continued un- 
interrupted by the defection of the island, and therefore 
the General Assembly to hear the orders of Council, 
should be held with them. The island towns claimed 
that as they formed the greater j)art of the colony, and 
hence had a larger interest in the matter, the Assembly 
should meet there. The original letters from the Council 
of State Avere deposited by Dyre with the town clerk of 
Newport, from whom certified copies were obtained, after 
some trouble, by the other towns. Neither party was dis- 

March poscd to yield. On tlic following Monday an Assembly 
1- of the colony, as it Avas called, met at Portsmouth, " to 
hear and receive the orders from y" right Honorable y' 
Council of State." The ofiiicers who had been displaced 
by Coddington's commission were reinstated until the 
next election, which was appointed for the usual time. 
Proposals for reunion, and for the government of the col- 
ony till the ensuing election, were sent to Providence by 
,o the town of .Newport. The mainland towns replied that 
they were ready to meet by Commissioners, and desired 
the island to ajipoint the time, to arrange all matters. 
They did not accept the terms proposed by Newport, nor 
was any meeting of Commissioners appointed by the 
island. The division therefore continued for another year, 
to the imminent peril of the liberties of tlie colony and of 
its internal peace. 

Two distinct Assemblies convened for a general elec- 
jyf.^y ■ tion at the same time. That of the mainland towns met 

lG-17. at Providence, the other at Newport, each sitting for two 
days. By the former a letter was sent to the island, giv- 
ino- as a reason why they did not meet with them, that 
the island had not given any ncttice of agreement to meet 
them by Commissioners, and hence they must proceed 



TWO DISTINCT ASSEMBLIES. NEW ENGAGEMENT. 245 

witli their own election as before. They chose Gregory chap. 
Dexter, President ; Stukcly Westcott, General Assistant ^^"" 
for Warwick ; John Sayles, General Assistant for Provi- 
dence, and Trcasnrer ; John Greene, Eccorder, and Hngh 
Bewitt, Sergeant. The Council of State having directed 
the colony to annoy the Dutch, with whom war had heen 
declared, it was ordered that no provisions should be sent 
to the Dutch ; that each plantation should prepare for its 
defence ; and that no seizures of Dutch property should 
be made in the name of the colony without a commission 
from the General Court. All legal process was to issue 
in the name of the Commonwealth of England, and in 
Providence and Warwick an eno;ao;ement in these words 
was subscribed upon their records : — " I do declare and 
l^romise that I will l)e true and faithful to the Common- 
wealth of England, as it is now established, without a 
Kinge or House of Lords." ' 

The enemies of Rhode Island afterwards sought to 
injure her position with the King on account of this en- 
gagement, but did not succeed. The only policy that 
Rhode Island could adopt was that which is pursued at 
this day by the United States in its intercourse with for- 
eign countries, to acknowledge the government de facto. 
To that government, whether royalist, republican, or pro- 
tectorate, she was always loyal, and her success from that 
cause rankled in the breasts of her Puritan opponents, 
whose professions of loyalty to the Kings w^ere equally 
loud and much less sincere. 

The Assembly at Newport elected John Sandford, 
sen., President ; Nicholas Easton of Newport, and Robert 17-18. 
Borden of Portsmouth, Assistants ; William Lytherland, 
Recorder ; Richard Knight, Sergeant ; John Coggeshall, 
Treasurer, and John Easton, Attorney General. Tliey 
re-established the code of 1647, and gave liberty to the 
mainland towns to choose their own General Assistants, 

^ Warwick records, 8th March, 1652-3. 



246 HISTOEY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND, 

in case they decided to unite witli the island. The next 
day some freemen from Providence and Warwick came to 
the Assembly, and an election for Assistants of those 
towns was made, Thomas Olney was chosen for Pro\'i- 
dence, and Randal Holdeu for Warwick, thns making two 
sets of Assistants for the mainland towns, and raising- a 
question of conflicting powers to render the difficulties 
yet more complicated, 

Mr, Coddingtou, upon demand of the AssemLly to 
surrender the statute book and records, declined to do so 
without advice from his Council, having received no order 
from England to resign his commission, or any proof, as 
he said, that it had been annulled. A more inextricable 
series of entanglements than now existed in the colony 
could not well be imagined. 

Active measures were taken against the Dutch. Can- 
non and smaller arms, and twenty volunteers were voted 
for the aid of the Enghsh on Long Island, Commissions 
to act against the enemy were granted to Capt. John Un- 
derhill, William Dyre and Edward Hull, and a Court of 
Admiralty for the trial of prizes was appointed, consisting 
of the general ofScers and three jurors from each town. 
The island was more energetic than the mainland in 
these measures, assuming at once offensive ground, while 
the latter acted chiefly on the defensive. Both did more 
than the United Colonies, who, although they had re- 
ceived similar orders from the Council of State, were more 
prudent, if not lukewarm, in their conduct. This mili- 
tary proclivity in Ehode Island was early shown. Their 
exposed position made it necessary on account of the In- 
dians in the first instance, and long habit cultivated the 
martial spirit of the people till it became a second nature. 
Their maritime advantages favored commercial enter- 
prise, and the two combined prepared them for those 
naval exploits which in after years shed so much glory on 
the State. That the bold proceedings of the Island As- 



CONTINUED DISSENSIONS IN THE COLONY. 247 

sembly were considered rash by the rest of the colony, chap. 
appears from a remonstrance made by the Court of Com- .^.,_L 
missioners, assembled at Providence for this purpose. 1-6 5 3. 
The acceptance of commissions to fight against the Dutch 3.4 
was a direct violation of their act in May, and as they 
claimed to be the lawful Assembly under the charter, 
they at once disfranchised those who owned the validity 
of those commissions, until they should give satisfaction to 
Providence and Warwick. The remonstrance recited the 
attempts made at re-union, as before given, and denounced 
the conduct of the Island Assembly in granting com- 
missions of reprisal, not only as rash in the feeble condi- 
tion of the colony, but as subversive of all government, 
in that they assumed to do it by authority of the whole 
colony. In conclusion an appeal to England was threat- 
ened in case the island should attempt to engage the main- 
land towns in the said commissions, or to molest them on 
that account. The Court adjourned to meet at the call 
of either of the General Assistants. This was not long 
delayed. 

The Pawtuxet men again, as two years before, peti- 
tioned Massachusetts on the subject of taxes levied by 
the Providence Plantations. The General Court sent a 
letter protesting against such exaction, or the exercise of 
any sort of jurisdiction over its subjects, and granting 
leave to them to arrest and sue in the county Courts any 
person of another government that should usurp over , 
them, whenever such person or his property should be 
found within the jurisdiction of Massachusetts. ' To reply 
to this protest a special session of the Commissioners was Auir. 
held at Warwick. No copy of the reply remains. 

The decided conduct of the island in the Dutch war 
increased the dissensions of the State, and involved her 
in further controversies with her neighbors. Capt. Hull, 
under his commission, captured a French ship in a mode 

' M. C. i;. iv. Part 1, HO. 



248 HISTOEY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

alleged by Massachusetts, in a letter to Rhode Island, to 
be unlawful. Among the reasons for this allegation, the 
itJ5 3. dissolution of the Parliavnent was mentioned. This was 
seized upon by Gorton as a ground of accusation against 
Massachusetts in England, whither the original letter, 
signed by the magistrates, was to be sent as evidence, 

^ . with other charges, against them. William Arnold, of 

5. Pawtuxet, wrote to the General Court, informing them 

of this design.' Great anxiety was felt by the United 

Colonies lest the Indians should ally with the Dutch. 

The Council of Massachusetts had sent two messengers 

"](j, in the spring to question Pessicus, Ninigret and Mexham, 
the son of Canonicus, being the three chief sachems of 
the Narragansets, upon this subject. They all denied 
any such intention, but their denial did not satisfy the 
Confederates,' who, at their next meetina:, hearing of an 

'2-2 ' assault made by the Narragansets upon the Long Island 
Indians, again sent messengers to them, demanding an 
account of their conduct. The explanation not being 
-'*■ satisfactory war was declared against the Narragansets, 
but Massachusetts deeming the cause insufficient, refused 
to raise her quota of troojis, so the expedition w^as aban- 
doned.^ The energy of the Rhode Island privateers had 
alarmed the United Colonies in the spring. Another 
seizure, of one of their own vessels, by Capt. Baxter, un- 
der a commission from this colony, caused them to send 
a special messenger with a letter to Rhode Island, re- 
, monstrating against the act. The Desire, of Barnstable, 
belunging to Samuel Mayo, was seized in Hempstead har- 
bor, an English settlement within the Dutch limits, hav- 
ing stores on board, which the owner affirmed w^ere in- 
tended for a plantation of English at Oyster Bay. Lieut. 

• !,- 1 Im>' .,;!.!, .,-(../ ^, 

' Hazard's State Papers, i. 582. 

- The queries, eleven in number, with the answers of each sachem, are 
given in full in Hazard, ii. 205-9. 
' Hazard ii. 283-5, 288-93. 



ACTS OF RHODE ISLAND PRIVATEERS. 249 

Hudson was instructed to learn by Avliat authority Rhode chap 

Ishiud issued letters of marque, and also to demand sat- v^,^'^ 

isfaction for Mayo. President Easton replied that the 165 3. 

. . Sept. 

colony was authorized to act against the enemies of Eng- Hj. 

land, aud had sent to the supreme authority an account 
of Baxter's proceedings, which they disowned so far as he 
had exceeded his commission. No satisfaction was given 
to Mayo. Upon Hudson's return the Commissioners ad- 
vised Connecticut to bring the Desire to trial if found in 
her harbors, the owner agreeing to pay damages, if it 
should prove true that she had been justly seized by Baxter. 
Baxter also captured a Dutch vessel near New York, 
and was pursued to Fairfield harbor by two armed Dutch 
ships. The New England Commissioners thereupon pro- 
hibited Dutch vessels from entering any English port. 19. 
This was a very mild course to adopt towards a belliger- 
ent foe, and contrasts Avith the vigorous conduct of Ehode 
Island. 

The report of dissensions in Rhode Island had reached 
England, and grieved the advocates of liberal principles 
in that country. Among these none were more earnest 
than Sir Henry Vane, whose sympathies, when Governor 
of Massachusetts, were with the party of j)i'Ogress, and ig:>34. 
who at home opposed in turn the despotism of the Stu- 
arts and the ultimate designs of Cromwell. Vane always 
manifested a deep interest in the welfare of Rhode Island, 
and a cordial appreciation of the principles of its founder, 
who for a considerable time during this visit to England 
became his guest. He wrote to the people of Rhode Isl- Yah. 
and a most kind and imploring letter, urging them to -''• 
reconcile their feuds for the honor of God and the good 
of their fellow-men. " Are there no wise men among 
you ? No public self-denying spirits," he asks, " who can 
find some way of union before you become a prey to your 
enemies ? " This letter no doubt had some efi'ect in com- 



250 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLA-ND. 

CHAP, pleting a reconciliation wliicli, before it was received, had 



Yin. 



already beo-un. 



105 4. The next spring but one General Assembly was held, 

16-18. filthoiigh the union was not yet perfected. A majority in 
the mainland towns seem to have agreed to the course 
pursued by the island, as these towns held no separate 
Court of Commissioners. A large minority still held out. 
There was no cordiality between the parties. A commit- 
tee of eight persons, two from each town, was appointed 
to prepare some mode of liealing the division. Nicholas 
Easton was chosen President of the colony. Randall Hol- 
den had the next highest number of votes. Thomas 
Olney was elected Assistant for Providence, Picliard Bor- 
den for Portsmouth, Edward Smith for Newport, and 
Randall Holden for Warwick ; Joseph Torrey, Recorder ; 
-^ John Coggeshall, Treasurer ; Richard Knight, Sergeant, 

and JMm_CmnstPib Attprney General. Some men were 
examined on a charge of illegal trading with the Dutch, 
and another commission of reprisal was granted against 
the enemy. Fugitives from labor, belonging in other col- 
onies, were to be returned on proper proof, at the expense 
of the master. 

Mr. Williams had so often succeeded in calming the 
ruffled sjjirits of the colonists, that he felt his presence 
might be useful in the existing crisis. Leaving Mr. Clarke 
to protect the rights of the colony in England, he re- 
turned home early in the summer, bringing with him the 
above-mentioned letter of Sir Henry Vane, and also an 
order from the Lord Protector to the government of 
Massachusetts, to permit him in future to pass unmo- 
jj^ly lested through that territory. Soon after his return he 
1-- wrote to his friend Winthrop an account of his occu- 
pations while abroad, from which we learn of his teach- 
ing the Hebrew, Greek, Latin, French and Dutch lan- 
guages, thus making his many accomplishments a means 
of subsistence, and also of his intimacy with Milton, then 



Zl. 



KEUNION OF THE COLONY. 251 

Secretary of the Council of State, to wliom he taught chap 
Dutch in exchange for other languages.' That he should .2i^ 
be obliged to teach for his suj^port while employed on 10 5 4. 
public business, is a proof of the poverty of the colony 12'! 
at this time. He also addressed a most earnest and con- 
cihatory letter to the town of Providence, concerning the 
dissensions in the colony, wherein he thanks God "for 
his wonderful Providences, by which alone the town and 
colony and that grand cause of Truth and Freedom of 
Conscience, hath been upheld to this day," and suggests 
a mode of settling the unhappy q^uarrel. He vras ap- Aug. 
pointed to reply to the letter from Sir Henry Vane, which 
he did in behalf of the town. From that letter we are 
confirmed in the opinion that the usurpation of Codding- 
ton, and the difficulties arising from the granting of com- 
missions of reprisal against the Dutch, were the chief 
causes of discontent in the colony. 

At length a reunion was effected. A full Court of 
Commissioners, six from each town, assembled at War- 
wick. Articles of agreement, settling the terms of reun- 
ion, were signed by the whole Court. It was agreed that 
all acts of the separate Assemblies from the time of the 
division sliould remain to the account of the towns, and 
of the persons taking part in those acts ; that the colony 
should proceed under authority of the charter ; and that 
the General Assembly for all public affairs, except elec- 
tions, should be composed of six members from each town. 
Thus ended this most dangerous period of disunion, that 
had lasted for three years, of which the first half was 
owing to the ambition of Coddiugton, and the last to the 
local jealousies of the towns, and to the refractory spirit 
of individuals. After this happy consummation the Court 
continued in session two days. They re-established the '^Y* * 
code of 1647, forbade the sale of liquor to tlie Indians, 
and prohibited the French and Dutch from trading Avith 

' This extremely interesting letter is given in Knowles, 2(j1-4. 



31. 



252 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, tliem. The care of the colony to avoid all legislation that 
.^^..^.^^ could in any way affect the rights of conscience, is con- 
1(3 54. spicuous in the action taken upon "several complaints 
* 1. ' exhibited to this Assembly against y^ incivilitie of persons 
exercised npou y" first day of y' weeke, which is offensive 
- to divers amongst ns." They passed no Smiday laAvs, 
such as existed all around them, but, judging rightly that 
such disturbances arose from the want of any regular sea- 
son for recreation, they referred it to the towns to appoint 
days for their " servants and children to recreate them- 
selves," and thus to prevent similar annoyances in future. 
The General Court of election met at Warwick. 
12. Roger Williams was chosen President ; Thomas Harris 
Assistant for Providence, John Eoome for Portsmouth, 
Benedict Arnold for Newport, and Randall Holden for 
lii^ Warwick ; Wm. Lytherland Recorder, Richard Kniglit 

Sergeant, Richard Burden Treasurer, and John Cranston 
Attorney General. These were to hold office until the 
1.3. spring election. The next day the Court of Commission- 
ers fixed the first Tuesday in May for the election of 
members by the towns, and the Tuesday after the fifteenth 
of May for that of general officers. Legal process was to 
issue "■ in y' name of His Higness y" Lord Protector of y" 
Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and 
y' dominions thereto belonging." The President and 
Gregory Dexter, then town clerk of Providence, were 
desired to " send letters of Immble thanksgiving to His 
Highness the Lord Protector, and Sir Henry Vane, Mr. 
Holland, and to Mr. John Clarke, in y' name of y' colo- 
nic." The two island towns were authorized to hold 
their court of trials together, if they pleased, or apart as 
they had previously done, and the same liberty was given 
to the two mainland towns. This act seems intended to 
remove what was apparently the first source of alienation 
in the colony, soon after the organization of the charter 
government.' 

' Ante cluip. vii. p. 214, 221. 



INDIAN WAR. 253 

War had again broken out between the Narragansets chap. 
and the Long Island Indians. The United Colonies were ^^^^' 
much alarmed, and sent messengers to inquire of Ninigret 16 5 4. 
the cause, and to demand his presence at Hartford. Nin- ' ^^ ' 
igret replied that the enemy had slain a sachem's son and 18. 
sixty of his people. The haughty spirit of the chieftain 
appears in his answer : "If your governor's son were 
slain, and several other men, would you ask counsel of 
another nation how and when to right yourselves ? " He 
refused to go to Hartford, and desired only that the Eng- 
lish Avould let him alone. President Williams wrote to 

the government of Massachusetts a lone: letter in defence 

. ... Oct 

of the Indians,' maintiiining that the Narragansets had 5, ' 

always been true to the English, and that the present war 
on Long Island was an act of self-defence. A force was 
sent against Ninigret under Major Willard. The In- *'• 
dians took refuge in a swamp. The troops returned un- ^-, 
successful, to the great chagrin of the Commissioners at 
Hartford. But Massachusetts, from humane motives, op- 
posed the war, and the other colonies were obliged to 
submit.- 

Military aftairs always received great attention in 
Ehode Island, but were not always a matter of record. 
This year the first mention is made of an election of ofii- ^^^^ 
cers in Providence. All were required to do military duty ; <>• 
only one man could be left at home on each farm, one mile 
from town, on parade days. 

- • An entry in the Portsmouth records shows tbat mem- 13. 
hers were elected from that town to attend a meeting of 
the General Assembly to be held the next day at New- 14. 
port. No record of any such session exists, nor is any 
other reference made to it elsewhere. 

When Aquidneck was purchased, only the grass upon 

■ The letter in full is given in R. I. Col. Records, i. 291, and Knowles, 
272-8. 

- Hazard's State Papers, ii. 308, 318, Sl'I-o, 3i0, etc. 



254 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

the otlier islands was conveyed in -the deed. The fee still 
vested in the native owners. A movement was now made 
1054-5. ill town meeting at Portsmonth to join with Newport in 
23." the jJiirchase of Conanicut and Dutch islands, and a com- 
mittee was appointed to treat with Newport on the sub- 
ject. These islands were afterwards bought, the former by 
Coddington and Benedict Arnold, Jr.,' the latter, together 
with Goat and Coasters Harbor islands, by Arnold and 
others. - 

Although harmony was for the most part restored to the 
colony, there still remained many who were restive nnder 
restraint, some advocating an unlawful liberty, and others, 
royalists in feeling, refusing to obey the government. This 
winter was one of nnnsnal turbulence in Providence. 
Under pretence of a voluntary training a tumult occurred 
in which some of the principal peoj^le were implicated.^ 
A paper was sent to tlie town asserting the dangerous doc- 
trine " that it was blood-guiltiness, and against the rule of 
the gospel, to execute judgment upon transgressors against 
the private or jiublic weal." This dogma was subversive of 
all civil society. If allowed it would pervert one of the 
two distinctive principles of Eliode Island Kberty to the 
destruction of the other and the consequent annihilation of 
them both. It was then that Eoger Williams wrote to the 
town that masterly letter which will endure so long as the 
principles it so admirably defines shall be cherished among 
men. 

'^ There goes many a ship to sea, with many hundred 
Bouls in one ship, whose weal and woe is common, and is a 
true picture of a commonwealth, or a human combination, 
or society. It hath fallen out sometimes that both Papists 
and Protestants, Jews and Turhs, may be embarked in 
one ship ; upon which supposal I affirm, that all the lib- 

' April 17, 1G57. - May 22, 1G58. 

' Thomas Gluey, Eobert Williams, John Field, "William Harris .ind others. 
Staples' Annals, 113. 



WILLIAMS' LETTER ON LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE. 255 

erty of conscience, tliat ever I pleaded for, turns npon chap. 
these two hinges : tliat none of the Papists, Protestants^ -^~^-~^ 
Jews, or Turks, he forced to come to the ship's prayers or 16 5 5. 
worship, nor compelled from their own particular prayers 
or worship, if they practise any. I further add, that I 
never denied, that notwithstanding this liberty, the com- 
mander of this ship ought to command the ship's course, 
yea, and also command that justice, peace, and sobriety, be 
kept and practised, both among the seamen and all the 
passengers. If any of the seamen refuse to perform their 
service, or passengers to pay their freight ; if any refuse 
to help, in person or purse, towards the common charges 
or defence ; if any refuse to obey the common laws and 
orders of the ship, concerning their common peace or pre- 
servation ; if any shall mutiny and rise up against their 
commanders and officers ; if any should preach or write that 
there ought to be no commanders or officers, because all 
are equal in Christ, therefore no masters nor officers, no 
laws nor orders, no corrections nor punishments ; I say, I 
never denied, but in such cases, whatever is pretended, the 
commander or commanders may judge, resist, compel, and 
punish such transgressors, according to their deserts and 
merits." ' 

Nowhere have the limits of civil and religious freedom 
been more aptly illustrated than in this letter of the 
christian statesman who first reduced them to harmonious 
union. ,, , 

Complaints made to Cromwell of the divisions in the 29, 
colony, drew from him a brief letter confirming the charter 
and promising to adjust the difficulties. 

At the regular annual election held in Providence the 
same general officers were chosen as in September, exceiJt "^.^^ 
Harris, who gave place to Thomas Olney as Assistant for 
Providence, Knight who was defeated by George Parker 
for Sergeant, and Burden who was displaced by John Sand- 

' Knowles, 279-80. 



256 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ERODE ISLAND. 

ford, as Treasurer, John Greene, Jr., was chosen Solicitor 
General, an office not filled at the former election. The 
court roll of freemen at this time numbered two hundred 
and forty- seven persons, of whom Providence had forty-two, 
Warwick thirty-eight, Portsmouth seventy-one, and New- 
port ninety-six. More than two thirds of the strength of 
the colony was on the island. Newport had already hy far 
the largest portion and was rapidly increasing. The dif- 
/ ference between an inhabitant and a freeman should be 
^ borne in mind. Not every resident was a legal inhabitant. 
Some time elapsed after one's arrival in the colony before 
he could be received as an inhabitant, participating thereby 
in certain rights to the common lands, doing jury duty, and 
being eligible to some of the lesser town offices. If his 
conduct while thus situated gave satisfaction he might be 
propounded at town meeting to become a freeman, and if 
no valid objection was brought against him, at the next 
meeting he was admitted to all the rights of the freemen, 
or close corporators of the colony. 

In the earlier years an admission as freeman sometimes 
brought with it a joint ownership in the land purchased, 
but soon it came to convey only the elective franchise, and 
even this was not always confined to freemen, for afterwards 
by a town law in Providence' any inhabitant was liable to 
be elected to office and finable for not serving. Two years 
later all who held lands in the town were declared to be 
freemen.- This latter feature remained, with some modi- 
fications, till the adoption of the State Constitution, 
22-25. At this session the general Court of trials was apjiointcd 
to sit once a year in each town. All persons were refjuired 
to sign a submission to the Lord Protector and the Par- 
liament, Those who refused were deprived of the benefit 
of the colony laws till they did so. Prisons were ordered 
to be built at NcAvport and Warwick, Providence and 

' Passed at town meeting, June 1G5G. Annals of Prov., 118. 
- do. do. May 1658. do. do. ]24. 



SUBMISSION TO THE LOrxD niOTECTOE. 257 

Portsmoutli were each to build a cage and to furnisli it chai'. 
with a pair of stocl^s. Very full laws were passed regulat- 2^^}^ 
ing the sale of liquors. This subject received the atten- 10 5 5. 
tion of nearly every Assembly and has been the most fruitful 
theme of legislation for more than two hundred years. 
Two taverns were licensed in each town, and leave was 
granted to the -towns to add one more if they saw fit. 
The armed opposition to authority by Olney and others, 
in the winter, was discussed and a committee appointed to 
inform him of the Assembly's view of the matter. That 
the disturbance was not very serious may be inferred from 
the choice of Olney as an assistant and from his taking 
the engagement after conferring with the committee. At 
the next town meeting it was wisely concluded ''that for •■""^■• 
the colony's sake, who have since chosen Thomas Olney an 
assistant, and for the public union and peace's sake, it 
should be passed l)y and no more mentioned." 

The reception of the letter from Cromwell caused a 2s. 
special session of the Assembly at Portsmouth. Letters 
of thanks were voted to the colony agent and to the Lord -''• 
President of the Council, requesting the latter to present 
their submission to His Highness the Lord Protector. A 
law was passed requiring that any who might be convicted 
by the Assembly as leaders of faction should be sent as 
prisoners to England at their own expense, there to be 
tried and punished. 

That strict decorum was not always preserved, although 
its necessity was appreciated, aj^pcars by the last act of 
this session ; '"' that in case any man shall strike another 
person in y° Court, he shall either be fined ten poundt!, or ''' ' 
be whipt, accordinge as y" Court shall see meete." 

The shortness of the sessions, and the early hour at 
which the Assemblies met, are worthy of remark. Three or 
four days were then found to be sufficient for the most im- 
portant business, and the daily adjournments were usually 
until six o'clock, or till half an hour or one hour after 
VOL. I. — 1 V 



258 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, sunrise the next morning. A line of one shilling was im- 

Zl^ posed for absence from roll call. 

1 G 5 5. The Warwick dispute remained unadjusted. An action 

for damages in the sum of two thousand pounds was brought 
by the Gortonists against Massachusetts, before the Coun- 
cil of State. The Indians subject to Massachusetts there 
and at Pawtuxet continued their depredations. Tlic Eng- 
lish subjects at the latter place, now consisting of but four 
families^ only two of whom still held out against Rhode 
Island, were a source of obstruction to the authority of the 
colony. The law prohibiting the sale of powder and arms 
to citizens of Rhode Island was still in f jrce in Massachu- 
setts. Ui^on these four points, of vital imj^ortance to the 

Nov. prosperity of the State, President Wilhams wrote to the 
■''■ Government of Massachusetts, urging them so to alter their 
policy as to prevent complaints against them from being- 
sent to England, in ships then ready to sail." Although 
the General Court was then in session no immediate notice 
was taken of this communication. 

iGr>r,-G. The peo})le of Providence, alarmed by hostile demon- 

strations of the Indians, decided to erect a fort on Stamp- 
er's Hill' At the same meeting they established a jus- 
tice's Court for the trial of cases not exceeding forty shil- 

' St;'plieii ArnoW, Zacliaiy liliodes, ^Villi:^ln Aruolil ami William Cai-pcu- 
ter. Of these the fii-st-named desired to unite with Rhode Ishiud, as did the 
second also, for, heing a Baptist, lie was virtually hauished by the law of loth 
Kov. KJi-i. The last two alone held out, under pretence of fearing to offend 
Massachusetts by withdrawing their allegiance. This they did, however, 
three years later, Oct. 22, 1G5S, by consent of the General Court. 

" The letter is found in K. I. Col. Keo. i. 322-5, and Hazard's State Pa- 
pers, i. GlO-11. 

^ The tradition, preserved by Judge Staples, in Ainials of Providence, p. 
117, gives a curious derivation for this name, and illustrates the constant dan- 
gers to which the early settlers were exposed. '• Soon after the settlement of 
Providence a body of Indians approached the town in a hostile manner. 
Some of tlio townsmen, by ranuing and stamping on this hill, induced them 
to believe that there was a large umuber of men stationed there to oppose 
them, upon which they relinquished their design and retired. From this cir- 
cumstance the liill was always called Stamper's Hill." 



Jan 



CODDINGTON SUBBIITS TO THE COLONY. " 259 

lings in amount. Koger Williams, Thomas Olney, and chap. 
Thomas Harris, were chosen judges of this Court. The ,__^ 
former was then President of the colony, Olney was the 1655-g. 
General Assistant for Providence, and Harris was a member 
of the Assembly. That the smallest tribunal in a town 
should be composed of such members speaks well for the 
public spirit of the leading men, and for the care taken in 
the administration of justice. 

At the general Court of trials held at Warwick, Mr. ■^l^^,^]^ 
Coddington appeared as one of the newly elected commis- 11. 
sioners from Newport. His election caused so much dis- 
satisfaction that an investigation was had by the Assembly, 
the jury meanwhile being dismissed. The result was a 
formal submission to the authority of the colony in these 
words : 

" I William Coddington, doe hereby submit to y" 
authoritie of His Highness in this Colonie as it is now 
united, and that with all my heart." 

The Assembly then adjourned, while the Court of trials 17. 
proceeded, after which it again convened at the same 
place. The committee of investigation reported favora- 
bly on Coddington's right to a seat, but advised that a 
letter be sent to the Agent in England, giving their 
reasons for receiving him, and asking for a discharge of 
the complaints entered against him before the Council of 
State. He had incurred a fine for withholding the colony 
records from the last Assembly, and this fine it was voted 
not to remit. Guns, similar to some he had brought over 
from England, were found in possession of the Indians. 
He was therefore required to account for the disposal of 
his. Certain proceedings prejudicial to Coddington during 
the time of his usurpation, were cut out from the records 
and given to him— a mutilation much to be regretted, as 
it deprives us of all information concerning his administra- 
tion. The presentments against him and some of his 
partisans on the Island records were annulled. 



260 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP. The custom of referring particular items of business to 

_.^„^ sub-committees, which gave rise to the modern system of 

iG5r>-G. standino; committees, was early introduced into our 
March. . -,? mi • i • • -i 

Assembly. There is scarcely a session, since the reunion, 

at which one or more sub-committees were not appointed. 
Prior to that time, all business was done by deliberation 
of the whole body. A warrant was issued to bring Pum- 
ham l)efore the Court to answer complaints from the town 
of Warwick, and a committee was appointed to treat 
with him, and to report at the next session. Marriages 
were ordered to be published at town meetings, or on 
training days at the head of the company, or by writing- 
posted in some public place, signed by a magistrate. If 
the banns were forbidden, the case was to bo heard hj 
two magistrates ; should they allow it, the parties might 
many ; but if not, the general Court of trials were to 
decide it. Tavern bars were to be closed at nine o'clock 
at night. The age of majority was fixed at twenty-one 
years. No magistrate, during the trial of a case, was 
permitted to leave the bench without permission from the 
Court, under a hea^'y penalty, as such an act might bias 
the jury, and thus imperil a just cause. 

The letter to the General Court, at their November 
session, having received no reply, Williams, in the spring, 
wrote to Governor Endicott, w'ho invited him to come to 

^'^'^y Boston. A second official letter w^as sent to the Court, 
12. 

of the same tenor as the former one ; and a few days 

after, Mr. Williams, then in Boston, WTote to the Court, 

17. expressing his gratification at the progress of affairs with 

Pumham, which, it would seem, were intrusted to his 

management. ^ 



1 5 ('.. 



' An aniiising entry in tlic Wai-wick records of IStli May of tliis year 
shows the provision made by that town for this journey of ihe President. 
" Ordered that forty shillings he sent out of the treasury unto Mr. Eoger Wil- 
liams, and a pair of Indian Breeches for his Indian, at seven shillings six- 
pence at G pr penny, as also a horse for hi? journey unto Boston and hack 
ao-ain.'' 



GENERAL ELECTION. 261 

At the general election held in Portsmouth, Koger 
Williams was again chosen President, The Assistants 
were Thomas Olney for Providence, William Balston for 
Portsmouth, John Coggeshall for Newport, and John 
Weeks for Warwick, he having the next highest vote to 
Randall Holden, who, being elected, declined to serve, 
and Avhose fine of five pounds for refusing was offset by 
his services previously rendered. John Sandford was made 
Recorder and Treasurer ; George Parker, Sergeant ; John 
Easton, Attorney-General ; and Richard Bulgar, Solicitor. 
The Assembly, as usual, met the next day, and sat 
three days. 

It was agreed that the controversy with the Pawtuxet 21-23. 
men should be closed by arbitration, after which they 
were to be received as freemen of the colony. Whoever 
should deface or destroy any instrument of justice was to 
make reparation for the injury, and to be confined for six 
hours in the stocks. Leave was granted to William 
Blackstone to enter the titles of his land in the records 
of land evidence in the colony. This was doubtless for 
the sake of convenience, he living near Providence, 
although at that time in the Plimouth jurisdiction, as 
appears from letters of administration granted by that 
colony at his decease. At the autumn session, held like- ^ 
wise at Portsmouth, provision was made for supplying lo. 
any vacancy caused by the death of a general ofiicer. 
Whoever had the next highest number of votes was to 
fill the place till the ensuing May election, or in case the 
choice had been unanimous, the town where the vacancy 
occurred was to elect a successor. This action was caused 
by the death of the Sergeant, George Parker, the first 
general officer who died in place. He was succeeded by 
Richard Knight, who had been his competitor at the 
spring election. 

One of the most serious differences that ever disturbed 
the colony commenced about this time. The free priuci- 



262 HISTOEY OF THE STATE OF HHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, pies of tlie State were constantly liable to abuse by those 
^_^^ whom they attracted hither. The distinction between li- 
16 5 6. cense and legal liberty was not yet so clearly drawn but 
10 ■ that some strong intellects failed to see it as it existed in 
the mind of Koger Williams, or as set forth in his remark- 
able letter before given. The paper which produced that 
letter expressed a most dangerous idea, but one that found 
an earnest and able champion in AVilliam Harris, between 
whom and Williams an inveterate hostility arose. The 
sources of this enmity aj)pear to have been tlieii; different 
views of the nature of liberty, and the proceedings result- 
ing; from this difference. It was carried to a degree of 
personal invective that mars the exalted character of Wil- 
liams and detracts from the dignity and worth of his op- 
ponent. It was never forgotten by the one or forgiven by 
the other. Both were men of ardent feelings and of great 
address, whose mental activity was never at rest. Harris, 
unfortunately, was almost constantly employed in business 
that was inimical to the interests of Ehode Island, and 
from this time forward assumed the position that the Ar- 
nolds of Pawtuxet had before held, either as a leader of 
faction within the State or the agent and representative 
of adverse interests abroad. This is the more to be re- 
gretted because he brought to whatever he undertouk the 
resources of a great mind and, to all appearance, the hon- 
est convictions of an earnest soul. On this account he 
was a more dangerous opponent and required stringent 
measures to suppress the errors of his political creed. So 
far only as this controversy had a public character we shall 
follow its development through a long series of years. 
Let the more repulsive features of personal rancor be con- 
signed to oblivion ! Harris had published " that he that 
can say it is his conscience ought not to yield subjection 
to any human order amongst men ;'"' and had attempted to 
sustain the subversive doctrine by abundant perversions 
of scriptural quotation. It was much such an announce- 



WILLIAM HARRIS ARRESTED FOR TREASON. 263 

ment as had aroused the pen of Williams two years before, chap 

He now adopted severer means to crush the reiterated fal- ^^ 

lac)^ As President of the colony he issued a warrant for 1656-7. 

the arrest of Harris on the charge of high treason against jo. 

the Commonwealth of England.' 

At the next election held in Newport, Williams was ■^,*l^'- 

. Mav 

not a candidate. Benedict Arnold was chosen President ; ly" 

Arthur Fenner of Providence, William Balston of Ports- 
mouth, Richard Tew of Newport, and Randall Holden of 
Warwick, Assistants, John Greene Jr., Attorney General, 
and James Rogers, Solicitor. The other three general 
offices remained as before. The trial of Harris could not 
proceed on account of the absence of his accuser. Both 
parties were warned to appear at an adjourned session in 
Warwick. At this special session Harris was required to ' |' •* 

■* Two cojiies of this warrant aro still preserv'ed among the papers of AVil- 
liam Harris, now in the possession of Wm. J. Harris, Esq., of Providence, 
whose kindness in placing these valuable MSS. in the hands of tlie writer he 
here begs leave to acknowledge. The warrant reads as follows : " Whereas, 
WiUiam Harris of Providence, published to all tlie towns in the colony dan- 
gerous writings containing his notoi-ious defiance to the authority of his bight 
uess the Lord Protector, &c., and the high Court of Parliament of England, 
as also his notorious attempts to draw all the English subjects of this colony 
into a traitorous renouncing of their allegiance and subjection, and whereas 
the said William Harris now openly in the face of the Court, declareth him- 
self resolved to maintain the said writings with his blood ; These are there- 
fore in the name of His Highness the Lord I'rotector, strictly to will and re- 
quire you to apprehend the said William Harris, and to keep him in .safe cus- 
tody until his appearance before the General Assembly of the colony in Maj^ 
next ensuing at Newport, before which Assembly he is to be convicted and 
sent for England, or acquitted according to law of the colony established 
amongst us. And you are also hereby authorized to take all due care that 
his land and estate be faithfully secured to the use of his highness, the Lord 
Protector, in case of the conviction of the said William Harris in the General 
Assembly of the colony as aforesaid ; for the due performance of all which 
premises, all his Highness' officers in this colony, both civil and military, and 
all his Highness' subjects in this colony are hereby straightly required to be 
aiding and assisting, as they will answer to the contrary at their peril. 

"Roger "Willi.vms, President. 

" To Mr. Richard Knight, General Serfjeant.'' 

This warrant is dated "Newport, 12th of the 1st mo., 1G5G and 1657, so 
called. " 



264 HISTOEY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, read a copy of his book upon ^Yl^eh tlie impeacliment was 

^^.,,...,1, based while Williams read the original. Williams then 

165 7. read to the Couit his letter containing the accusation, also 

' 4/ a copy of his charge, and his reply to Harris' booJi. It 

"sviis referred to a committee to report what further jiro- 

ceedings were desirable. They advised that the papers 

be sent to England for examination and that Harris should 

give bonds for good behavior till the result was known. 

A committee was thereupon appointed to write to John 

Clarke a suitable letter to accompany these papers, and 

Harris and his son Andrew were placed under bonds of 

five hundred pounds. 

The English settled in the Perpiut eonntiy were ever 
thwarting the efforts of the Narragansets to avenge their 
wrongs upon Uncas. The Mohawks were in league with 
the Narragansets against the Mohegans, and were advanc- 
ing in force to attack them. The Narragansets applied to 
the General Assembly to remonstrate with the English on 
their conduct in always giving warning, through their 
scouts, to Uncas of the approach of an enemy, lest the 
Mohawks, being enraged thereby, should attack the Eng- 
lish themselves. The Assembly wrote a letter to Capt. 
Denison and others in aceordance with this request, that 
for peace sake they should allow the Indians to fight out 
their own quarrels — a grain of advice which, if followed, 
would have done more than any thing else to secure the 
good-will of those powerful tribes. 

The year 1656 will be darkly memorable in the annals 
of New England for the arrival of the Quakers and the 
commencement of their persecution at Boston. The ap- 
pearance of this "cursed sect of heretics"^ so alarmed the 
Puritans that a day of pnblic humiliation was apj)ointed' 
to be held in all the churehes mainly on their account. 
A stringent law was enacted for their suppression^ and 

' Preamble to law of Oct. 14tli, IG^O, M. C. R., iii. 415. 
- ]\rny lltli, 165G, to he held June lltli. 
' Oct. 14th, 165G. 



PERSECUTION OF THE QUAKERS. 265 

two years later their tenets were made a capital offence.' 
Fines, imprisonment, whij)ping, banishment, mutilation, 
and death, were denounced and inflicted upon them. The 10 5 7. 
wildest fanaticism on their part was met by a frenzied 
bigotry on the other. Acts that made the perpetrators 
amenable to the statute against nuisances were visited 
with the penalties provided against heresies. The strait- 
jacket or temporary confinement would have been the 
proper treatment in many cases that were consigned to 
the scourge or the scaffold. The vagaries of morbid minds, 
not morally accountable for the indecencies they committed, 
were visited with the same penalties that awaited the rob- 
ber or the assassin. 2 Nor was severity confined to cases 
like these, but people of blameless conduct alike suffered, 
on the same ground, for heretical opinions. For five years 
this persecution continued, until stayed by an order from 
Charles 11.^ requiring that capital and corporal punish- 
ments of the Quakers should cease, and that such as were 
obnoxious should be sent to England. ^ That Rhode Island 
became a city of refuge for those who fled from this fiery 

' Oct. 19th, 1G58. 

^ " At Boston one George Wilson, aud at Cambridge Elizabeth Ilorton 
\vent crying through the streets that the Lord was coming with fire and sword 
to plead with them. Thomas Newhouse went into the meeting house at Bos- 
ton with a couple of glass bottles, and broke them before the congregation, 
and threatened ' Thus will the Lord break you in pieces.' Another time M. 
Brewster came in with her face smeared and as black as a coal. Deborah 
Wilson went through the streets of Salem naked as she came into the world, 
for which she was well whipped. One of the sect apologizing for this be- 
havior said, ' If the Lord did stir up any of his daughters to be a sign of 
the nakedness of others, he believed it to be a great cross to a modest woman's 
spirit, but the Lord must be obeyed.' " Hutuh. Mass., i. 203-4. A display 
of prurient piety like this last occurred also in one of the churches. Now 
England Judged, Part ii. p. 69. 

^ 9th Sept., 1661. 

^ See Hutchinson's Mass., i. 190-204 ; Bishop's New England Judged, 
Part 1st, 4to., 176 pp. London, 1661, and Part 2d, 4to., 147 pp., 1667. Xew 
England Ensign, London, 1659, 4to., 121 pp. Several Rhode Island people 
were victims of this persecution, whose sufiferings will be noticed in the proper 
place. Mary, wife of Wm. Dyre, Secretary of Rhode Island colony, was put 
to death, and Thomas Harris and others were severely maltreated. 



266 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, ordeal vexed the United Colonies. Tbe Commissioners, 

VTIT 

_^..^ assembled at Boston, wrote a letter urging Kliode Island 
165 7. to banish the Quakers already there and to prohibit any 
2. ' more from coming to the State.' To this request the 
President and Assistants, met at the Court of trials in 
Oct. Providence, replied, that there was no law by which men 
could be punished in Ehode Island for their opinions, and 
that the Quakers being unmolested, were becoming dis- 
gusted at their want of success ; but that in case of any 
extravagancies, like those referred to, being committed, the 
1657-8. next General Assembly would provide a corrective. That 
13. body met at Portsmouth and addressed another letter to 
the Massachusetts on the same subject. In this letter 
they say that freedom of conscience Avas the ground of 
their charter and shall be maintained ; that if the Qua- 
kers violate the laws or refuse to conform thereto in any 
respect, complaint against them will be made in England 
and the more readily as these people are there tolerated.- 
On the same day a letter was sent to Plymouth deny- 
ing the claim set up l)y that colony to Hog island, wliich 
was purchased by Richard Smith from Wamsutta, sachem 
of the Wampanoags. The question was left to the Pres- 
ident and Thomas Willett to be settled, by whom it Avas 
advised to adjust the matter by arbitration, which after 
much delay was done, and the right of Rhode Island to 
the land in dispute ultimately sustained. Hope island 
had been given to Roger Williams by Miantinomi many 
years before but was still occupied by Indians. The Court 
ordered that the Sachems should remove their subjects to 
leave Mr. Williams in possession. Gould island had been 
purchased of the Indians a year before-^ by Thomas Gould, 
and about the same time^ the great Pettiquamscut pur- 

^ Hazard, ii. 370-1. 

- Both these letters and also that to whicli thcj' are the rephes, are given 
ill R. I. CoL Roc., i. 374-380. , , ^ ,. ,, 

= March 28th, 1657. ■* January 20tli, 1657. 



Nov. 



PAWTUXET MEN RETURN TO THEIR ALLEGIANCE. 267 

chase, in wliat is now South Kingston, was commenced, chap. 
Eepeated additions were made to this tract, and difficulties 21^^ 
with adjoining purchasers arose when the claims of Massa- 16 58. 
chusetts to the Narraganset country came to be urged.' 
These frequent purchases caused so much trouble that the 
Assembly soon afterwards prohibited any further purchases 
of land or islands from the Indians within the colony with- 
out express jjermission from that body, on pain of forfeiture 
of the land, and a fine of twenty pounds besides. 

At the general election, held in Warwick, the only |g^ 
changes made were in the Assistants for Providence and 
Newport ; William Field being chosen for the former and 
Joseph Clarke for the latter. All the other offices remained 
as before. Upon the conclusion of peace between England 
and Holland the law proliibiting trade with the Dutch was 
repealed, but there were still some lawless persons, who, 
pretending commissions from Ehode Island, annoyed the 
Dutch commerce by seizing their goods and vessels. To 
prevent their recurrence these outrages were denounced as 
felony. The order to build prisons and cages not having 
been obeyed, it was repealed, and the prison built at New- 
port was directed to be for the colony use, the other towns 
contributing towards its cost. 

The long pending difficulties with the Pawtuxet men 
were now terminated by their withdrawal from the juris- 
diction of Massachusetts, and acknowledging allegiance to 
Rhode Island. William Arnold and William Carpenter, 
for themselves and their friends, petitioned the General 
Court for a full discharge of their persons and estates from ge 
subjection to Massachusetts. This was granted provided 
they rendered an account of their proceedings against the 
Warwick men under tlie commission of Massachusetts fif- 

' The details and subsequent history of this purchase are given by Mr. 
Potter, in R. I. IT. C, iii. 275-99. The original proprietors were Samuel 
Wilbor, John Hull of Boston, John Porter, Samuel Wilson, Thomas Blum- 
ford. At a later period William Brentou and Benedict Arnold were admit- 
ted. 



268 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, teen years before, and that the Greenes and others should 
J^^ have liberty to prosecute them in any of the Massachusetts 
165 8. Courts Mbr injuries received thereby. This happy result 
was effected by the mediation of Roger AVilliams. At the 
next General Court in October the sentence of banishment 
against the Warwick men was so far relaxed that leave 
was granted to John Greene, sen., to visit his friends for 
one month. The bond required from Arnold to answer 
any suit brought by the Greenes was limited to one year, 
at the expiration of which period he petitioned the Court 
for certain amounts of damage sustained by him in execut- 
ing the commission against the Gortonists. The account 
was referred and ultimately extended, and in part allowed, 
but the committee's report was better calculated to satisfy 
the Greenes than the petitioner.'- 
g^ !_ The Commissioners of the United Colonies wrote to all 

23. the General Courts urging severer measures against the 
]q" Quakers. Massachusetts acted at once on the suggestion, 
and passed a law punishing with death any Quakers who 
should return after sentence of banishment. Rhode Island 
again was urged to join in the fierce oppression. Threats 
of exclusion from all intercourse or trade with the rest of 
New England were made to force her from her fidelity to 
the cause of religious freedom, but in vain. The result 
was an appeal to Cromwell by the General Assembly that 
" they may not be compelled to exercise any civil power 
over men's consciences, so long as human orders, in point 
of civility, are not corrupted or violated." A letter was 
sent to John Clarke to be presented to His Highness, 
which contains this request, and clearly distinguishes be- 
tween the rights of conscience and the duties of the cit- 
izen.^ 

' M. C. E. iv. Part i. p. 333. 

= The petition was Oct. 18th, 1050. The report was made Nov. 12tli. 
See M. C. R., iv. Part i. 411, and 11. I. H. C, ii. 20G-12. He afterwards, 
1(3G3, presented an extended account, which was settled by compromise, Oct 
21st, i6G3. M. C. R., iv. Part ii. p. 78, 93. 

'' This letter is in R. I. Col. Rec, i. 39G-9. 



ISTov. 



PERSECUTION OF THE QUAKERS. 269 

While Ehode Island was tluis defending her liberal 
sentiments, her citizens without distinction of sex or age 
were suffering from Puritan persecutions. A Mrs. Gardner 
of Newport, the mother of several children, and a woman 
of good report, having hecome a Quaker, went to Wey- 
mouth, with an infant at her breast, taking with her a 
nurse, Mary Stanton, to attend the child. There they 
were arrested and taken before Governor Endicot by whom 
they were sent to prison, flogged with ten stripes each, and 
closely confined for two weeks. ^ Thomas Harris of Bar- 
badoes, who had settled in Khode Island, went to Boston 
with two others of the same sect, where, after serAice at j^^ne 
cliurch, he gave great offence by haranguing the congrega- lo- 
tion, an indiscretion which may have deserved some pun- 
ishment but not the severity he received. He was flogged, 
imprisoned for eleven days, during five of which he was not 
allowed food or water, because he refused to work at the ^o 
jailer's bidding, severely whipped by the jailer, and again 
publicly with several others, receiving fifteen stripes.- 

Catharine, wife of Eichard Scot of Providence, and sister 
of the celebrated Ann Hutchinson, met with a similar fate. 
She went to Boston to witness the mutilation of three ^^^^'' 

lb. 

of her brethren, whose right ears were cut off by the hang- 
man in execution of the law against Quakers. For re- 
monstrating upon this cruelty she was imprisoned for two 
weeks and then publicly flogged. ^^ She was advanced in Oct. 
life, had been married twenty years, and was the mother of 
several children, two of whom suffered in the same cause. 
The' severity of these proceedings and the increasing rigor 
of the statutes ]3assed at every session of the General Court 
against the Quakers, caused many of them to seek a home 
in Rhode Island. But the spirit of fanaticism was not 
yet appeased. From fine and imprisonment it proceeded 

' New England Ensign, 72-3. Bisliop's New England Judged, 47. 
■ Jvily 19tli. New England Ensign, 73-5. 
^ New England Judged, 75. 



270 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

(:hap. to apply whipping and mutilation, then banishment, and 
JJ^^ finally death to the unfortunate Quakers. This last out- 
165 8. rage upon humanity was opposed by the deputies and by 
19 ■ the great mass of the people, who were always ahead of 
their rulers in liberal feeling and in their sense of justice 
and of right. The magistrates and clergy^ were zealous 
in its favor. The deputies yielded by a majority of one, 
and thus placed another blot on the annals of Massachu- 
setts to the eternal disgrace of Puritan legislation. The 
next year was to witness the execution of this cruel statute 
in the case of a Rhode Island victim. 
Xov. To prevent further trouble like that which had just 

2- been so fortunately ended with Pawtuxet, the Assembly, 
convened at Warwick, decreed that no one should here- 
after submit his lands to any other jurisdiction, or attempt 
to bring in any foreign government within the colony on 
pain of confiscation. No law w\as to be in force until 
twenty days after the adjournment of the Assembly. This 
was to allow ten days for the recorder to furnish each town 
clerk with a copy of the acts of the session, and ten more 
for the tov^ns to consider them, and if they disapproved to 
notify the President and thus to annul the statute. The 
Assembly decided to have but one annual session, to be 
held at the May election, but this was rarely found to suf- 
fice. They also reduced the sittings of the Court of trials 
to two, in March and October. The President and General 
Council might call extra meetings of the Assembly. This 
council was composed of the President, Assistants, and 
Q^,(. town Magistrates. No law creating it can be found, and 
li. but three meetings appear on the records — one at War- 
wick, just prior to this session, at which no business of im- 
portance was transacted, and the other two at Providence 
in the following spring. At the first of these, warrants 

' " In liffireticos gladio viiMlieainlnin est,"' was a motto of Cah'iu, as well 
as of Fiome, and too faithfully followed by Lis sterr. disciples in Massachu- 
setts. 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 271 

were issued to arrest Pumham for insurrection in causing 
a riot to rescue a felon in Warwick, and some other Indians 
for robbery committed upon William Arnold at Pawtuxet. 
Two days afterward the council met for the last time to 
publish the proclamation of Richard, Lord Protector, who 
had succeeded to the supreme authority on the death of 
his father in September. It was ordered to be read at 
town meeting, and at the head of every military company ^ 
in the colony on the following Tuesday. 

At the general election held in Providence the same 1(3 5 9. 
officers were retained throughout, except Knight, Sergeant, j'^ 
who was displaced liy James Eogers. The dispute with 
Plymouth about Hog island not having been settled, the 
Assembly again appointed four Commissioners to meet 
the same number from Plymouth to adjust this matter, and 
also the general boundary of the two colonies, and notified 
Plymouth accordingly. Four men, one from each town, 
were also appointed to mark out the western bounds of the 
colony, but nothing was done about it for the present. 
The Indians gave much trouble by stealing the goods and 
cattle of the colonists. A severe law was passed to prevent 
it. If the damage exceeded twenty shillings, the convict 
might be sold as a slave to any English plantation abroad, 
unless he made restitution, and if less than that sum he 
sliould restore twofold, or bo whipped not more than fif- 
teen stripes. The Assembly addressed a letter to Richard 
Cromwell askins; a confirmation of their charter. It was 
never presented, as the Protector had resigned his power 
before it reached England. A tax of fifty pounds was laid 
to pay for ammunition, and to meet the expenses of the 
agent in London. Providence and Warwick were each to 
pay nine pounds, Portsmouth fourteeen, and Newport 
eighteen pounds. Providence was allowed to buy out and 
remove the Indians within its limits, and to enlarge its 
bounds by further purchase. Leave was also granted to 
purchase certain other lands, and a committee appointed 



272 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, for that purpose. Fox island and an adjoining tract on 
.____1, tlie main near Wickford, were bought by Holden and Gor- 
1 G 5 9. ton, and soon afterwards Humphrey Atherton, John Win- 
7_ throp and others, not citizens of Rhode Island, bought two 
large tracts on the bay, one called Quidnesett, south of 
Wickford, and the other, called Namcook, now Boston 
jyj^, neck, north of it. This purchase was in violation of an 
4. express law of Ehode Island. Its validity depended on the 
decision of the question of jurisdiction over the Narragan- 
set country, claimed by Ehode Island and disputed by Con- 
necticut and Massachusetts. Roger Williams warned Ath- 
erton upon this point, and refused the offers of land made 
to induce him to aid as interpreter in the purchase. It 
became a fruitful source of difliculty for many years. The 
28. Assembly met at Portsmouth, and appointed a committee 
of two from each town to write to the Commissioners of 
the United Colonics, to Massachusetts, and to Atherton, 
respecting these purchases. During the Debate on this 
question the Assembly sat with closed doors. ' They pre- 
pared to prosecute the claims of Rhode Island before Par- 
liament, and empowered the committee to call together 
the Assembly when they saw fit. 

Potowomut Vv'as ordered to be pm-chased for the colony 
from the Indians. Hog island continued to Ije a source 
of trouble. Richard Smith claiming it adversely to the 
colony, and threatening any who should molest him in his 
possession, the Assemljly resolved to bear them harmless. 
Smith sought to place the island under the jurisdiction of 
Plymouth. Robert AVestcott, a member from Warwick, 
was tried for a similar offence and suspended, and John 
Weeks was chosen by the Assembly to fill his place. A 
further tax of fifty pounds was laid, of which Newi^ort was 
to pay twenty. Providence eleven, Portsmouth ten, and 
Warwick nine pounds. Newport it appears had doubled 
in wealth over Portsmouth, and Providence for the first 
time seems to have gained wpoii the other two towns. 



PEKSECUTION OF THE QUAKERS. 273 

Letters from John Clarke informed the celony of the Pro- 
tector's resignation, and that the Parliament was the sole 
authority, as before the accession of Cromwell. AU legal I0.5t). 
process was therefore ordered to issue " in the name of the 
supreme authority of the Commonwealth of England." 
The first instance of the appointment of a deputy sergeant 
occurred at this session. James Kogers, Sergeant General, 
was allowed to appoint a deputy to serve writs and execu- 
tions, he being responsible for the acts of such deputy. 

The zeal of Puritan persecution was inflamed by the 
rancor of the magistrates and clergy. Among those who 
had already suffered imprisonment for their adhesion to 
the novel and " cursed heresy," was Mary, wife of William 
Dyre, the^^rst se(3retary of Aquedneck. Returning from 
England, whither she had probably accompanied her hus- 
band when he went over with Williams and Clarke, but 
had remained behind and there had embraced the new 
tenets, with no knowledge of what had been done in Mas- 
sachusetts, she was arrested and thrown into prison. With 
difficulty she was released by her husband giving bonds 
to take her immediately away, and not to suffer her to 
speak to any one on the journey homeward. Afterwards 
in company with other friends, Hope Clifton, and Mary, 
daughter of Catherine Scot, whose sister Patience, a girl of g ' 
only eleven years, was then in prison for the same offence, 
she ventured again into Massachusetts to visit some friends 
confined in Boston as Quakers. Her two companions wore 
only imprisoned, but Mary Dyre, having been before ban- 
ished under pain of death, was tried, together with Wil- 
Ham Robhison and Marmaduke Stevenson, and condemned 
to death. The sentence was executed upon the two men. 19. 
Mary was reprieved while on the gallows, after her two ^7 
fellow-sufferers had been swung off.' With singular in- 
fatuation she returned in the following spring, for the third 1 6 G 0. 
time, while the General Court was in session, was arrested g'^*,^ 

' New Eugland Judged, ?>8, 97, 100. 
VOL. I — 18 



274 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

and Imng.' There were other instances of this revolting 

cruelty practised upon persons not resident in Ehode 

1 G 0. Island, and which continued till Charles II. peremptorily 

!_' forbade any further murders to be i:)erpetrated, in the name 

May of God, by these infuriated zealots. 
22 

The next general election was held at Portsmouth. 

William Brenton was chosen President, William Field of 
Providence, WilHam Baulston of Portsmouth, Benedict 
Arnuld, late President, of Newport, and John Grreene of 
Warwick, Assistants, John Sanford, Ptecorder and Treas- 
urer, James Rogers, Sergeant, John Easton, Attorney 
General, and Richard Bulgar, Solicitor General. An im- 
jDortant modification of the statute regulating the mode 
of annulling laws was made. In place of ten days, three 
months was allowed for the towns to return their votes 
ujion any new law, after its presentation, and instead of a 
majority of freemen in each town being necessaiy to annul 
a law, a majority of those in the Colony was now sufficient, 
even although any one town made no returns against it. 
This was a great step towards consolidation, and tended 

20. to strengthen the Colonial Government. 

A great change was in progress at this time in Enghsli 
aijfliirs. Charles II. landed in England, and amid the joyful 
shouts of his subjects, entered London in triumph. The 
restoration was complete, not only in form but in sub- 
stance. The great mass of the people received their mon- 
arch with delight, fur they desired relief from the turmoil 
of civil strife. The religious parties united in the ovations 
that welcomed his return, and each vied with the other in 
demonstrations of loyalty. The Episcopalians hated 
Cromwell because he had crushed them, the Puritans dis- 
liked him for curbing their persecuting zeal, while the 
Eoman Catholics hailed the return of the Stuarts as l)eing 
a family of their own faith. 

Vo ■ The news of the restoration of Charles II. occasioned 

a special meeting of the Assembly at Warwick, His 

' M. C. 11. iv. Part i. 419. 



SACHEMS MORTGAGE LANDS TO THE ATHEETON COMPANY. 275 

Majesty's letter to Parliament, liis declaration and pro- chap. 



Yiir. 



clamation were read and entered upon the records. The 
King was formally proclaimed at eight o'clock the next 16 0. 
morning, in presence of the Assembly, with military 21. 
honors, and the following Wednesday was appointed for 
his public proclamation throughout the colony, and was 
made a general holiday. All legal process was to issue in 
His Majesty's name. A commission was sent to John 
Clarke confirming his position as agent for the colony, and 
desiring him to obtain a confirmation of the charter from 
the Icrown. 

j^ committee was also appointed to treat with Ather- 
ton ahdjiis company about their purchase in Narraganset, 
and to arrange the terms upon which they might come 
into the colony, or if they refused to treat, then to forbid 
them from entering on their lands. They reported but 
partial progress at the next session, and were continued. 

Meanwhile a great wrong was committed upon the 21"^ 
Narraganset Indians by the commissioners of the United 
Colonies, who, for alleged injuries inflicted upon the 
Mohegans, which were denied by the Narraganset Sa- 
chems, levied a heavy fine upon them, and compelled 
them, by an armed force, to mortgage their whole country g^ . 
for the payment of a sum, amounting to five hundred and 29 
ninety-five fathoms of peage within four months. In a Oot. 
month from this time the Sachems mortgaged to the 
Atherton company all the unsold lands in Narraganset, on 
condition that they would pay the fine to the United 
Colonies, and further bound themselves to sell no more 
lands without consent of the mortgagees. Six months 
was allowed for redemption. Atherton paid the fine ; the 
land was not redeemed, and afterwards, in the spring of 
1662, the Sachems delivered formal possession to the 
mortgagees. Upon so slight a transaction, founded in 
force, and followed up in that spirit of acquisition which 
aimed at the jiossession of the whole of Rhode Island, 



30. 



276 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

rested the claims of a company that was destined to give 
SO much trouble to the colony. 

The same President, Assistants, Attorney-General 
and Sergeant were re-elected at Newport, Joseph Torrey 
was chosen Recorder, Caleb Carr, Treasurer, and Peter 
Tallman, Solicitor-General. The assembly passed a 
lengthy act acknowledging their submission to the King, 

22. proposing to send a special agent to England to present it 
in a humble address to His Majesty, and voting a tax of 
two hundred pounds for that purpose. The plan was 
^y^' given up on receipt of letters from John Clarke, which 
were read at the next meeting of the court of commission- 
ers at Portsmouth. A letter of thanks to Mr. Clarke was 
voted, and the commission, prepared in October, was order- 
ed to be sent to him. The tax was apportioned, eighty- 

, five pounds to Newport, forty pounds each to Providence 
4. and Portsmouth, and thirty-five pounds to Warwick. It 
was to be raised by voluntary contribution for the use of 
the agent. 

An extensive purchase, made the i)revious year, by 
some Newport men, in the south-west part of the Narra- 
ganset country, called Misquamicock, now Westerly, be- 
gan to be settled, and gave rise to further difficulties of 
propriety and jurisdiction.^ At this session the purchasers 
petitioned for the approval and assistance of the colony in 
maldng a settlement there, which was granted. The 
commissioners of the United Colonies took up the dispute 
in behalf of Massachusetts, and wrote to Rhode Island re- 

* This tract was given to Soclio, a brave captain of the Narragansets, by 
Canonicus and Miantiuomi, for services rendered about 1635, in driving off a 
party of Peqiiots who had settled there prior to the war between the Peqnots 
and Enghsh iu 1G37. It was deeded by Socho, Jan. 29th, 1G60, to William 
Vanglian, Robert Stanton, John Fairfield, Hugh Mosher, James Longbottom 
and others of Newport, and the original deed to Socho was confirmed by Pes- 
sicus, 24th June, 1661, at which time Niuigret claimed the tract, but his 
nephew Pessicus denied his right thereto. The documents relating to this 
subject and the records of the Westerly proprietors are given by Mr. Potter in 
Early Hist, of Nar't. R. I. H. C, iii. 241-75. 



SEIZURE OF SAUNDERS AND BURDETT. 277 

specting this and tlie Pettiquamscot purchase, protesting chap. 
against the conduct of Ehode Island in permitting them 3^^ 
to he made. Massachusetts, by whom the Pequot country 1661. 
was claimed hy right of conquest, had erected the tract on '13 ' 
each side of the Pawcatuck river into a township called 
Southertown, and attached it to the county of Suffolk. 
Complaints from this town were now made to the General 
Court, of the intrusion of some thirty-six settlers from 
Rhode Island into that part of the town east of Paw- 
catuck river, being the Westerly purchase, claiming it as 
theiK^own. Upon this a warrant was issued by the coun- 25' 
cil of ^Massachusetts to the constable of Southertown to ar- 
rest the trespassers. Tobias Saunders, Eobert Burdett, 
and Joseph Clarke were seized. Clarke was released, and Nov. 
the others were taken to Boston as prisoners, and commit- 
ted for want of bail. The magistrates sent a letter to Dec. 
Rhode Island, inquiring if the conduct of these trespass- ^• 
ers was sanctioned by that government, and saying if it 
were so, Massachusetts would prepare to defend her peo- 
ple in their just rights. Receiving no reply, another let- 1 ^ g o 
ter was soon after sent, by special messengers, asserting March 
her claim to all Rhode Island, " from Pequot river to Ply- 
mouth hue," under the Narraganset patent,' and avowing 
her determination to make it good. At the next session 
of the General Court the two prisoners were brought to 
trial. They were sentenced to pay a fine of forty pounds, May 
and to be imprisoned till it was paid, and also to give '• 
sureties for one hundred pounds to keep the peace.^ A 
third letter was then written, informing Rhode Island of 
the trial of these men, and requiring her to cause the set- 1*^- 
tiers at Pettiquamscot and Southertown to vacate their 
lands before the end of June, or they should be treated as 
Saunders and Burdett had been. But Rhode Island was 
not to be intimidated by the threats of her powerful neigh- 

' Obtained Dec. lOtli, 1643, ante ch. iv. 
- M. C. RT iv. Part 2d, p. 44. 



22 



278 HISTOEY OF THE ' STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

bor, whose efforts against lier peace and existence had so 
often been thwarted by her firmness, sanctioned by the 
16 62. subsequent approval of her conduct by the Supreme Gov- 
'"' ernment in England. Belying, as she ever had done, on 
the justice of her cause, and looking to her right of appeal 
to the King and Parliament, through the medium of her 
able and faithful agent, John Clarke, she maintained her 
position. The Court of Commissioners, met at Warwick, 
20. sent to Daniel Gookin and others, subjects of Massachu- 
setts, who had intruded at Westerly, prohibiting them 
from planting or building there until the order of the 
King on that matter could be known. ' A letter in reply 
to Massachusetts was prepared, defending the conduct of 
Saunders and Burdett, and denying that the Pequot re- 
gion ever extended east of Pawcatuck river, or that Massa- 
chusetts had any claim to the Narraganset country. The 
terms of the letter were as courteous as the subject would 
permit. Two messengers were appointed to carry it to 
Boston." 

At this general election Benedict Arnold was chosen 
President, over William Brenton ; Kicliard Tew, Assist- 
ant for Newport, John Sandford, Treasurer, and Richard 
Bulbar, Solicitor. The other officers continued as be- 
fore, but the Attorney General declining to serve, John 
Sandford was chosen to that place in June. These offi- 
cers were re-elected the following year, and served until 
the adoption of the Royal Charter. 

Wampum-peage up to this time had been the princi- 
pal circulating medium in Rhode Island. The other colo- 

' Tliis prohibition does not ai^pear on the records of the May session, 
which began on the 22d, while this document is dated the 20th. There was 
perhaps a special meeting of the Court prior to the general election two days 
later. It is found in the files of the General Court of Massachusetts, and is 
printed in R. I. Col. Eec, i. 463, with the three letters from Massachusetts 
above refenred to, and other papers on the same subject. 

^ These were John Green and John Sandford. The letter is in E. I. Col. 
Kec, i. 469-73. 



THE COLONY DETERMINES TO MAINTAIN ITS EIGHTS. 279 

nies had long since aLandonecl it. It had now fallen so chap. 
much in value that it was declared to be no longer legal _^_ 
tender, and all taxes and costs of court were required to be l 6 fi '-'. 
paid " in current pay," that is, in Sterling or in New Eng- 
land coin.^ The confusion of land titles had become so 
great, that a law was passed vesting the fee in whoever, 
having possession, should record his claim within thirteen 
months, if on the spot ; and this record, if undisputed 
within that time, should perfect the title even against the 
real owner. To those living in other colonies one year 
moreX^-s given, and to those living beyond the sea two 
years lo^iger^-were allowed to establish their right. The 
President or any Assistant was empowered to appoint con- 
stables at any of the new settlements in Narraganset to 
keep the peace. This act evinced the fixed determination 
of Rhode Island to maintain her rights in the disputed 
territory. The Court adjourned till the next month, to 
await the return of the messengers sent to Massachusetts. 
They did not reach Boston till the General Court had ad- J"nfi 
journed. To prevent the mischief that might result from 
the contents of their letter not being generally known, 
leave was granted for any person to send copies of it, and 
of the prohibition, to their friends in Massachusetts. 
Liberty to buy land of the Indians was also given to sev- 
eral parties. These purchases soon became too frequent 
to be specially noticed. 

Letters were constantly passing between the colony 
and its agent. Measures of vital importance to the wel- 
fare of Ehode Island were in progress. The position she 
occupied was anomalous, and required great tact and 
ability to sustain. The charter, by which she existed, 
was obtained from an authority inimical to the king, 

'Massachusetts had begun to coin silver in 1052. Shillings and six- 
pences, all of which bear the same date, although the coinage was continued 
throughout several years, are still extant. Thirty shillings of New England 
silver was equal to twenty-two shillings sixpence sterling. 



280 HISTOKY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

and which had afterwards dethroned and beheaded his 
royal father. The principles she avowed were totally un- 
recognized among men. No form of civil government 
then existing could tolerate her democracy, and even 
Christian charity denied her faith. To obtain a renewal 
of privileges so remarkable, to secure the regard of a sove- 
reign whose arbitrary will was an inheritance, to obtain 
his sanction to a system which, initiated as an experi- 
ment by a republican parliament, had come to be no longer 
a philosophical problem but an established fact, and which, 
if extended, must inevitably in time overthrow the fabric 
of monarchical power — these were the difficult and perhaps 
dangerous duties that now devolved on the agent of Rhode 
Island. Well did he conduct his delicate mission, and 
triumjDhant was the success that crowned his labors. 
Two petitions or addresses were presented to Charles II. 
by John Clarke, in behalf of the people of Rhode Island, 
wherein he recites briefly the origin of the colony, and 
states clearly the grounds of their first and second removal 
for the cause of iieligious liberty, asserting that they 
" have it much on their hearts, if they may be permitted, 
to hold forth a lively experiment, that a flourishing civil 
state may stand, yea, and best be maintained, and that 
among English spirits, with a full liberty in religious con- 
cernments," and finally surrendering their lands and 
charter to the crown, and craving "a more absolute, 
ample, and free charter of civil incorporation." ' 

While the existence of the colony hung on the yet 

doubtful success of its agent at the English court, affairs 

at home were scarcely more propitious to its safety or inde- 

Sept. pendence. The subjects of Massachusetts in Narraganset 



•i. 



' The precise date of these two addresses is unknown. They were found 
among the archives in the British State Paper Office in London, and belong 
no doubt to the year 1G62. Copies wei-e made for the splendid library of Mr. 
John Carter Brown, which contains probably the richest collection of MSS. 
and of rare and valuable works on American history to be found. These two 
papers are printed in Mr. Secretary Bartlett's R. L Col. Rec, i. 485-91. 



CONNECTICUT CLAIMS NAKRAGANSET. 281 

complained to the commissioners of the United Colonies chap. 

.... VIII 

of the conduct of Khode Island, in maintaining her char- — .-^^ 
tared rights over that country. The appointment of con- l ^ ^ -• 
stables by the last General Assembly had filled the cup 
of New England indignation. The commissioners now 
wrote to Rhode Island, claiming Narraganset for Connec- 
ticut, under the new charter to that colony which had just 
been received, as the previous year they had claimed it 
for Massachusetts under the old Narraganset patent. 
TheXletter concludes with the usual threat in case of non- 
compliance with their demands.' Connecticut, upon the Oct. 
proclamarfeioij^of her charter, ^ ordered the inhabitants of ^• 
Mystic and Pawcatuck not to exercise authority under 
commissions from any other colony. =* This order was 
aimed equally at Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and 
was justified by the terms of the new charter, which em- 
braced the whole Narraganset country. At the meeting 
of the Court of Commissioners in Warwick, another letter 
was ordered to be sent to Massachusetts about the lands 
of Pawcatuck, in reply to the one from the United Colo- 
nies. This letter was more severe than was usual in the 
official communications of Rhode Island, justly charging 
the Massachusetts with habitual injury to Rhode Island by 
wrongful accusations and unchristian acts, and asserting 
that the Connecticut charter, so far as it conveyed juris- 
diction over the Narraganset country, was procured by 
" underhand dealing,'" and that it would be revoked. The 
letter further demanded the release of Saunders and Bur- 
dett, who still remained in prison, and also claimed dam- 
ages for the wi'ongs inflicted upon them. In conclusion, 
it offered equal justice in the courts of Rhode Island, to 
all parties aggrieved by any illegal acts of the Westerly 
settlers.* 

' Hazard, ii. 462-9. R. I. Col. Rec, i. 499. 

" Dated 23d April, 1662, and received in September. 

" Coun't Col. Rec, i. 389. 

' See R. I. Col. Rec, i. 493-.'). 



27. 



282 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP. That the subject of education received early atteution 

21^ in Ehode Island we have already shown in the chapter on 
16 63. Aquedneck. An ample foundation for its support was 
c^/' also made in Providence, by the reservation of one hundred 
acres of upland and six acres of meadow for the mainte- 
nance of a school, which was voted in town meeting at this 
time, 
22. No changes were made in the general officers at the 

next election. The session, held in Providence, was very 
short. 

The continued imj)risonmeut of the two Ehode Island 
men in Massachusetts exasperated the settlers at West- 
erly, and led to a system of reprisals, and to acts of "sao- 
lence, seriously disturbing the border towns. A house 
that had been built on the east side of Pawcatuck river 
by residents of Southertown, being within the asserted ju- 
risdiction of Ehode Island, was torn down. William Mar- 
ble, a deputy of the Marshal of Suffolk, bearing a letter 
.lune. ^^ ^^^^ Westerly men upon this subject, was arrested, sent 
to Newport, and confined in prison for eleven months. 
Soon after his release he petitioned the General Court of 
Massachusetts ^ for redress. The petition is on the files 
of the Court, but no action upon it is recorded. 

By the third article of an ao;reement made between 
y'^ Olarke and Winthrop, the Atherton Company were to 
choose whether they would be under the jurisdiction of 
Ehode Island or of Connecticut. This agreement was im- 
mediately sent over to America. The action of the com- 
pany Avas prompt and decided. They preferred the gov- 
ernment of Connecticut, and so declared in a formal meet- 
ing, every one subscribing a paper to that effect, which 
was sent to Hartford. The Governor and Council imme- 
!''■ diately accepted the jurisdiction, as being included in the 
limits of their charter, named the plantation AVickford, 
and appointed Eichard Smith, sen., Edward Hutchinson, 

' August 3d, 1GG4. 



Jnlv 
3. 



KECEPTION OF THE ROYAL CHARTER. 283 

and Joshua Hewes, Selectmen, and Kichard Smith, inn., chap. 

VTTT 

Constable. Mr. Smith's trading-house was the place de- ._^^_1 
signated for the transaction of public business, 1 *^ ^ ^• 

The hopes of Khode Island received a further blow in 21. 
a letter from the king to the United Colonies, commend- 
ing to their care the interests of the Atherton purchasers 
against the vexatious proceedings of Providence colony.' 
How that letter was obtained will appear in the succeed- 
ing chapter. But steps had already been taken by Clarke 
whicii prevented the injury that the State woidd other- 
wise Wve sustained from these causes. The Assembly 
met at Portsmouth soon after the receipt of this letter, to 14-19. 
expedite measures for the support of their agent. 

The General Court of Massachusetts sent special 
agents to Khode Island, to inform the government of their " ' 
\'iews of her acts against the peace of that colony in regard 
to Southertown, and to propose a reference of the matters 
in dispute, until which time further molestation should 
cease.2 Soon afterwards warrants were issued to all the 
towns by the President, requiring the freemen to accompany Nov. 
their commissioners, with their arms, to solemnize the re- 
ception of the charter, as advised by the colony's agent. 
The President also wrote to Massachusetts, enclosing a let- iq_ 
ter from the king in behalf of Khode Island, and received 
a reply that the council should be called at once to delib- -^• 
erate on the subject. They met at Boston, and proposed 
by letter to President Arnold that all subjects in dispute ^ 
between the two colonies be referred to arbitrators, to meet 
at Plymouth at such time as Khode Island might select, 
and naming Governor Prince and Josias Winslow as refer- 
ees on the part of Massachusetts. 

Once more, and for the last time under the parliamen- 
tary patent, the general Court of Commissioners convened 
at Newport on the appointed day, to receive at the hands 

' Hazard ii. 4!J8. R. I. Col. Rec, i. 4G6. 
- M. C. R., iv. Part 2d, p. 95. 



284 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, of Captain George Baxter, lately arrived from England, 
Jil^ the rich result of the labors of John Clarke — the Royal 
16 6 3. Charter of Charles II. 
24. ' " At a very great meeting and assembly of the freemen 

of the colony of Providence Plantations, at Newport, in 
Rhode Island, in New England, November the 24th, 1663. 
The abovesayed Assembly being legally called and orderly 
mett for the soUome reception of his Majestyes gratious 
letters pattent unto them sent, and having in order thereto 
chosen the President, Benedict Arnold, Moderator of the 
Assembly," it was, " Voted : That the box in which the 
King's gratious letters were enclosed be opened, and the 
letters with the broad scale thereto affixed be taken forth 
and read by Captayne George Baxter in the audience and 
view of all the people ; which was accordingly done, and 
the sayd letters with his Majesty's Royall Stampe, and the 
broad seal, with much becoming gravity held up on hygh, 
and presented to the perfect view of the people, and then 
returned into the box and locked up by the Governor, in 
order to the safe keeping of it." 

The humble thanks of the colony were voted to His 
Majesty and to the earl of Clarendon, and also a gratuity 
of one hundred pounds to John Clarke and one of twenty- 
25 five pounds to Captain Baxter. The next day the com 
missioners again assembled, and having passed such acts 
as were necessary to prevent the failure of justice, " dis- 
solved and resigned up " to the government appointed by 
the charter. 
2(3. On the following day the Governor and council named 

in the charter, held a meeting to receive again the sub- 
mission of the sachems to the crown of England, and to 
order the government of the colony, by receiving anew the 
eno;ao;ements of all the existing officers to hold their iilaces 
until the session of the General Assembly, which was ap- 
pointed for the first Tuesday of the ensuing March. 

The government of the colony under the parliamentary 



EXPIRATION OF THE PARLIAMENTARY CHARTER. 285 

patent was ended. "The incorporation of Providence 
Plantations," as a legal title, had ceased to exist. Hence- 
forth the colony was to assume another name, and to he gov- l G : 
erned under a royal charter, not less free than that which 
it supplanted, and better adapted to the exigencies of the 
State. The patent of 1644 had accomphshed the chief 
end for which it was sought. It had gathered the scat- 
tered settlements of fugitives from persecution into one 
corporate body, and compelled their recognition as a body 
politic by their ambitious and vindictive neighbors. But 
it was too feeble to answer the full purposes of a charter. 
The very lree€kmi of its provisions, which in later days 
would give it strength, was in those primitive times a 
source of weakness. It was more a patent for the towns 
than for the people, legalizing, in effect, so many independ- 
ent corporations, rather than constructing one sovereign 
power resting upon the pojiular will. It produced a con- 
federacy, and not a union. Its defects are seen in the fa- 
cility with which Coddington, contrary to the wishes of the 
people at Aquedneck, severed that island from the rest of 
the colony, and usurped a power almost dictatorial. Under 
its operation, in every town and hamlet were spread the 
seeds of discontent and disunion, and nothing but the pres- 
sure from without, and the supreme law of self-preserva- 
tion, kept the discordant settlements from utter destruction, 
and from being absorbed by the adjoining governments. 
Its reception had been hailed with extravagant joy by a 
despised and persecuted people. Its expiration was at- 
tended with no regret, for twenty years had wrought that 
change in the feeble colony which the same period works 
from infancy to manhood. As a basis of civil polity it had 
" outlived its usefulness," and was suffered to depart with- 
out a murmur. 

Thus closed the second epoch of Khode Island history. 
The first presents a view of scattered cabins reared in the 
primeval wilderness, till they become a little village on the 



286 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, river bank. One after another tliese feeble hamlets strug- 
v^,^ gle into life, remote from each other, amid virgin forests 
1 G G 3. and on the ocean shore. The hardy settlers, twice exiled 
for opinion's sake, have become the pioneers of jirinciples 
immortal as truth itself. What, though wild beasts dis- 
turb their rest at night, and the Indian warwhoop rings 
around their dwellings ! They have won the savage by 
acts of kindness and of justice, and have less to fear, from 
his untamed but generous spirit than from the brethren 
they have left. Here, each village, by itself, they must 
frame tlieir own laws, and submit to their own enact- 
ments, till, by force of habit and of necessity, each vil- 
lager becomes, unconsciously, a statesman. The school 
of practice precedes the school of theory, and thus four in- 
dependent governments are formed, self-constituted, in the 
wilderness. But one common sentiment pervades the 
whole. The spirit of liberty animates every heart. Soul 
liberty and civil freedom is their aim, and with one accord 
each separate village declares that " all men may walk as 
their consciences persuade them, every one in the name of 
his God." Thus in obscurity these outcast men indeed 
proclaimed " freedom to the world," and from their seclud- 
ed settlements sent fortli a laAV which was to redeem the 
human soul from spiritual thraldom, and in time to free 
a nation, perhaps all nations at some future day, from civil 
tyranny, by teaching the doctrine of self-government. 

But the villages have grown to be towns, " heresy and 
treason " are rampant in the plantations, and Puritan zeal 
for Church and State seeks to extirpate the source of so 
dangerous an example. Eoused to a sense of impending 
danger, and conscious of the vast significance of their 
common principles, the tovN^ns obtain a patent which re- 
cognizes their corporate existence, yet leaves them freely 
to enjoy their cherished sentiments. With this patent of 
incorporation the second epoch of their history begins. 
Through the last two chapters we have traced this second 



PROCEEDINGS IN THE CASE OP JOHN WAENER. 287 

period of doubt and change, of conflict and disunion, of chap. 
threatened anarchy within, and of aggression and insult s^_^-^ 
from without. We have seen how, amid all the troubles 16 6 3. 
that environed them, the townsmen kept steadily in view 
the fundamental principles of their organization, and tri- 
umphantly sustained their peculiar notions against the 
arguments and the menaces of the rest of !^ew England ; 
and how the material prosperity of the people kept pace 
with th^ir fidelity to the truth, until the arrival of a new, 
" more absolute, ample, and free charter of civil incorj)0- 
ration," ushered in the third epoch of our history — the 
period of coloniaijiiaturity. 



APPENDIX B. 

PROCEEDINGS IN THE CASE OF JOHN WARNER. 

FROM THE WARWICK RECORDS. 

•• The twentie-fourth of Aprill, 1G52. APR 

" At a towu meeting or law making assembly ordered that 

" John Warner for his misdemeanures under annexed is degraded 
by the unanimos consent of the towu from bearing any office in the 
town, and that he is hereby disenabled for ever after bearing any of- 
fice in the Town uutill he gives the town satisfaction. 

" It is further ordered that the abovesayed John Warner is put out 
from having any vote in the town concerning its affairs. 

" The charges against John Warner are these, first 

"Item — for calling the officers of the town rogues and theives with 
respect to their office. 

•' Item — for calling the whole town rogues and thieves. 

" Item — for threatning the lives of men. 

" Item — for threatning to kill all the mares in town. 

" Item — for his contempt in not appearing before the town now 
met, being lawfully (assembled ?) by a summons from the officer with 
two magistrates hands to it. 

•' Item — for threatning an officer of the colony in open Court that 



288 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP ^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^"^ elsewhere he would beate out bis braynes, as also call- 
VIII. ing him rogue. 

^"TX^ " Item — for his employing an agent to write to the ^Massachusetts. 
' B. thereby going about to inthrall the liberties of the town, contrary to 
the privileges of the town, and to the great indignity of the Honorable 
State of England who granted the sayd privaledges to us. 

" It is ordered that another be immediately chose for Assistant to 
supply John Warner's place while (until?) the next choice." 

Mr. John SrSth was chosen Assistant in place of Warner. At 
the annual town meeting on 7th June it was 

" Ordered, that the answer read by Mr. S. Gorton in the town 
meeting, to the motions of the Town of Providence with respect to 
John Warner, be forthwith drawn forth and signed b}^ tlie Clarke and 
sent to the Town of Providence forthwith. 

" Ordered, that the declaration that hath been drawn up in the 
town concerning John Warner and the Dutchmen, which hath been 
sent to the Bay, as also to Providence, that a copy of it be dra^\-n forth 
and signed by the Clarke and sent to Mr. Roger Williams, and or- 
dered tliat Mr. Samuel Gorton is to write a letter to Mr. Roger Wil- 
liams in the Town's behalf, to give him information concerning the 
town and Colonies proceedings with John Warner and his wife." 

The only notice taken of the case by the General Assembly was 
on the 19 th j\Iay, when the matter was left to the decision of the 
Court of Trials in these words, " It is agreed that the case of Priscilla 
AVarner, now depending in the General Court of Trialls, shall there be 
issued." 

At a town meeting on the 22d June it was ordered, 

" That the house and land of John Warner situate and being in 
the sayd town be attached forthwith upon suspicion of unsuflerable 
treacherie against the town, to the forfeiture of the sayd house and 
land, and that notice may be given him of the attachment thereof that 
so hee by himself or aturncy may answer at the next court of Trials 
to be held in Warwick the 3d Tuesday in August next ensuing the 
date hereof It is also ordered that all persons are hereby prohibited 
from laying any claim or title unto it, or any part thereof by bargain 
and sale or otherwise untLll he hath answered the law and be cleered 
by order of the Court held as aforesaj-d, but remains in the hand and 
custody of the town in the mean time. 

" Ordered, that the Sergeant shall have a copie of this order and 
set it u}) upon the door of the house. 

'• Ordered, that if hereafter John Warner or any for him shall sell 
that house and land abovcsayd. any part or parcel of it, to any but 
such as shall subscribe to our order it shall as before be wholly forfeit 
to the town." 



TEOCEEDINGS IN THE CASE OF JOHN WARNER. 289 

On the 5th of July the property was released, under protest, as cHAP. 
follows:— VIII.' 

" Ordered by the town of Warwick that the house and land of ^pp 
John Warner, situated in the sayd Town of Warwick, being of late B. 
atached upon suspicion of the breach of the grand law of the Town, 
be resigned up to the said John Warner again. 

•' We whose names are here underwritten being unsatisfied with 
the above voate upon the resigning of the abovesayed house of John 
Warner which was atached upon suspicion of the breach of the grand 
law of the^ Town, do hereby enter our protest against the act, as wit- 
ness our hatids. 

\ Randal Houlden, John Wickes, 

John Greene, Jun., Samuel Gorton, 

^"~~--- Robert Potter." 

Thirty-one j^ears later, June 26th, 1083, he was divorced from his 
wife upon her petition, on the ground of infidelity, and of personal 
violence towards her, and at the same session was expelled from the 
General Assembly as he had before been from town offices, in terms 
as follows :^ 

" Voted : Whereas, Sir. John Warner was by the town of Warwick 
chosen to be a Deputy in this Assembly, and being from time to time 
called, and not in Courte appearing, and there haveing been presented 
to this Assembly such complaints against him, that the Assembly doe 
judge, and are well satisfied, he is an unfitt person to serve as a Dep- 
uty ; and therefore see cause to expel him from acting in this present 
Assembly as a Deputy." 



VOL. I — 19 



290 HISTOEY OP THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 



CHAPTER IX. 

1663— 1G75. 

• 

FROM THE ADOPTION OF THE 110 YAL CHARTER, NOVEMBER, 
1GG3, TO THE COMMENCEMENT OF KING FHILIP'S WAR, 
JUNE, 1G75. 

ciiAP. rjijjj^ restoration of the Stuarts, annulling tlie acts of 

— . — ' the Long Parliament, corapelleil Rhode Island to seek a 
renewal of her privileges l\y another charter. It was at an 
auspicious moment, when Charles II. was yet but recently 
seated upon his throne, that the talent and energy of Dr. 
Clarke obtained this instrument. It confirmed every 
thing that the previous patent had given, and vested even 
greater powers in the people. Under it the State was an 
absolute sovereignty with powers to make its own laws, 
religious freedom was guaranteed, and no oath of alle- 
giance w^as required. Ehode Island became in fact, and 
almost in name, an independent State from that day. 

There are three points in this charter deserving of 
special attention, which distinguish it from all other royal 
patents that have ever been granted. To mention these 
in the order in which they occur, the first is the acknowl- 
../ edgment of the Indian titles to the soil. Among the 
reasons assigned for granting the charter is this, that the 
petitioners " are seized and possessed by purchase and 
consent of the said natives to their full content, of such 
lands, islands," &c., and farther on, in the enumeration 



THE CHARTER ACKNOWLEDGES INDIAN TITLES. 291 

of powers granted^ the inhabitants are permitted " to di- chap. 
rect, rule, order and dispose of all other matters and ,^J,J^ 
things, and particularly that which relates to the making 
of j)urchases of the native Indians." These paragraphs 
would appear unimportant, if they did not concede a prin- 
ciple for which the ■ founders of Ehode Island had con- 
tended from the beginning, and which was not incorpo- 
rated in any other charter. Possession by right of dis- 
covery was a European doctrine coeval with the days of 
Columbus and de Gama. First exercised by the Su- 
preme Pontiff, who claimed the exclusive right, as God's 
Vicegerent, to the temporal control of all newly-discov- 
ered countries, it was soon adopted by the maritime pow- 
ers as a part of the royal prerogative. Overlooking that 
principle of justice which establishes propriety in the 
original possessor, the sovereigns of Europe did not hesi- 
tate to assert their claim over both Americas. The rights 
of the aborigines, heathens and barbarians as they were, 
presented no obstacles to these enlightened and Christian 
legislators. Their heathenism was handed over to the 
tender mercies of the church, their barbarism to the civ- 
ilizing agency of gunpowder and steel. Although the 
method'of administration was more summary in the S^ian- 
ish and Portuguese possessions, the principle, in its broad- 
est extent, was recognized by the British crown, though 
rarely acted upon by the English colonists. Against the 
abstract right, as well as the positive abuse of these pre- 
tensions, the settlement of Ehode Island was the first 
solemn protest. Mercy and justice combined to raise the 
voice of indignant rebuke against the wholesale assump- 
tion of territorial rights, urged by the Council of Ply- 
mouth under their patent from King James. For the 
bold denunciation of those words of the patent in which 
the King, as the " Sovereign Lord " of this continent, 
grants by his " special grace, mere motion and certain 
knowledge,"' a large portion of America, reaching from 



292 HISTORY OF THP: state of RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, the Atlantic to the Pacific, to the Council of Plymouth. 

_:^:^ Eogei' Williams was twice subjected to the censure of the 
uuthoiities of Massachusetts. This principle was the 
only one, save that of " soul liberty," which Koger Wil- 
liams initiated in Massachusetts, of the many factious 
proceedings that later writers, following Hubbard, have 
laid to his charge. Upon this point, the exclusive right 
of the aborigines to their native soil, Mr, Williams was 
decided, and his views were maintained by those who fol- 
lowed him to Rhode Island. They were set forth by Dr. 
Clarke in his addresses to the King, and thus became em- 
bodied in the Royal charter. The operation of the thing 
was the reverse in this State from what it was elsewhere. 
The other colonies claimed the soil by virtue of grants 
from the King, and confirmed their titles by purchase 
from the Indians, or by conquest. Here the paramount 
title was held to be in the aborigines, and the right, first 
obtained from them by i)urcliaso, was only confirmed by 
patent from the crown. 

The second remarkable point in this charter is the am- 

;. pie protection which it .extends to the rights of conscience. 

So full and al:)solute is this guarantee, and so different 
from the prevailing spirit of the age, that the principle it 
embodies has come to be considered, not oidy as the pecu- 
liar honor of Rhode Island, but as being the sole distin" 
guishing feature of her history. It declares " that noe 
person witliin the sayd colonyo, at any tyme hereafter, 
shall bee any wise molested, punished, disquieted, or 
called in question, for any difference in opiniono in mat- 
ters of religion which doc not actually disturb the civill 
peace of our sayd colonye ; but that all and everye per- 
son and persons may, from tyme to tyme, and at all tymcs 
liereafter, freely e and fully e have and enjoye his and thcire 
owne judgments and consciences, in matters of religious 
concernments, throughout the tract of lande hereafter 
mentioned ; they behaving themselves peaceablie and 



ALLOWS LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE AND IS REPUBLICAN. 293 

quietlie, and not using this libertie to lyccntiousnesse and chap. 
profanenesse, nor to the civil injurye or outward disturb- ._i^ 
ance of others." It should be remembered that the laws 
of England ligidly required uniformity in religious belief. 
Church and State were essential portions of each other. 
This grant therefore rej^ealed the laAvs of England, so far 
as Rhode Island was concerned, by excepting her from 
their operation, and left tlie people of this colony precisely 
where the\parliamentary patent, by its significant silence 
on this subject, had left them. It was a signal triumph 
for what is no\r-i«cognizcd as the fundamental principle 
in ethics, in religion, and in politics.' 

The remaining point to be noticed as distinguishing 
this charter from all others that have emanated from the 
throne of a monarch, is its purely republican character. 
When the colony was organized under the previous ])S.- 
tent, the Assembly declared " that the form of government 
established in Providence Plantations is Democratical, 
that is to say, a government held by the free and volun- 
tary consent of all, or the greater part of the free inhabit- 
ants." This was a novel doctrine, at least in the history 
of the modern world, and although it was sanctioned ])y 
the charter of a republican parliament, it could hardly be 
expected to pass the seals of a Royal Council. Yet it did 
so pass, and in almost the same terms in which it had be- 
fore been secured. After conferring power to elect their 
own officers and to make their own laws, "as to them 
shall seem meet for the good and welfare of the said Com- 
pany," it requires only that such laws " bee not contrarie 
and repugnant unto, but as near as may bee, agreeable to 

' It is worthy of notice that Charles XL, iii his faiiious letter to the Com- 
mons, known as the " Declaration," from Breda, April 4-14, IGGO, promises 
religious freedom to his subjects, in the event of his restoration, in precisely 
the language used in the charter of Rhode Island, " that no man shall be dii- 
quieied or called in question for differences of opinion in matters of rdir/ion 
ivhich do 7iot dlsiurh the peace of the Tcingdom." Echard's Hist, of England, ii. 
897; Rapin book, 22d vol. xi. p. 180, where the declaration is cited in fall. 



294 HTiiiTOEY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

riiAP. tlie laws of this our Realme of England," and adds the 
_:^ same qualifymg and practically annulling words, " consid- 
ering the nature and constitution of the place and people 
there."' The extent of the powers conferred by this 
charter is indeed surprising. The military arm, alv/ays 
relied u]5on as the distinctive barrier of the throne, is for- 
mally and fully surrendered to the people, in this instru- 
ment, even to the extreme point of declaring martial law 
— a grant which, in repeated cases, the government of 
Rhode Island successfully defended, in later years, against 
the threats and the arguments of the royal governors of 
New England. 

Thus it was that Rhode Island continued, as she had 
begun, an independent State, through all the vicissitudes 
of the Mother country, and was unaffected, save at one 
l)rief interval, by the changes that swept over the neigh- 
l)oring colonies. AVith this charter, serving as the basis 
of government rather than prescribing its form, the State 
led the way in the final struggle for national independ- 
ence. 

Under it Rhode Island, as being no less truly than 
professedly republican, adopted the Constitution of the 
United States and was received into the American Union. 
So tar as tliis charter was concerned, a single provision, 
fixing the apportionment of representatives for the several 
towns, which time had rendered unjust in its operation, 
and which, it was contended, could not be remedied other- 
wise than by an alteration of the organic law, led to its 
abroo-ation in 1843, at which time this venerable instru- 
ment w^as the oldest constitutional charter in the world. 
For one Imndred and eighty years it had been regarded as 
the shield of popular freedom against Royal prerogative or 
Federal encroachment. It was the last remaining beacon 
planted by the Republicans of the seventeenth century, 
and so firmly that the war of the Revolution had not 



BOUNDARY DISPUTE WITH CONNECTICUT. 295 

changed its position, for they both rested upon the same chap. 

• • • TV 

foundation — the inherent right of self-government. .^^-^ 

The Government was vested in a Governor, Deputy 
Governor, and ten Assistants, named in the charter, with 
a House of Deputies, six from Newport, four each from 
Providence, Portsmouth and Warwick, and two from 
every other town. The former were to he chosen annual- 
ly at ]SI'ew23ort on the first Wednesday of May, the latter 
by their respective towns. The whole legislative body was 
called the General Assembly, and was to meet twice a 
year, in May rtnd^ Octo ber, but they could alter the time 
and place of meeting at will. Benedict Arnold was ap- 
pointed the first Governor, and William Brenton, DejDUty 
Governor. ^ 

In view no doubt of the acts of non-intercourse exist- 
ing against Rhode Island in the neighboring colonies, the 
charter specially required that the people of this colony 
should be permitted to pass unmolested through the adja- 
cent provinces, and an appeal to the King was guaranteed 
in case of further disputes. In all cases the charter was 
to be construed most favorably for the benefit of the 
grantees. The boundary lines were minutely defined. 
They are those which, after more than a century of con- 
test with the adjoining colonies, were finally established 
in accordance with the charter, and exist at this day. 

The western boundary was the source of immediate and 
violent dispute, prolonging instead of quieting the difficul- 
ties already commenced. The charter of Connecticut 
bore date fifteen months anterior to that of Rhode Island, 
and bounded that colony on Narraganset Bay. The peo- 
ple of Rhode Island, upon the first notice of this legalized 
robbery of so large a portion of their territory, charged 
those of Connecticut with underhand dealing in the 

' The Assistants were William Balston, John Porter, Roger Williams, 
Thomas Olney, John Smith, John Greene, John Coggeshall, James Barker, 
William Fieild, and Joseph Clarke. 



296 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, means employed to obtain that result, and maintained 
,^:^ that upon a proper representation of the facts the obnox- 
ious jiortions would he revoked — and so indeed it proved. 
The Rhode Island charter, referring in terms to that of 
Connecticut, and expressly limiting the territory therein 
conveyed in accordance with the claims of Rhode Island, 
designated the Pawcatuck river as her western boundary, 
" any graunt, or clause in -a late graunt, to the Governor 
and Company of Connecticut Colony, in America, to the 
contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding; the afore- 
sayd Pawcatuck river haveing byn yeilded, after much de- 
bate, for the fixed and certain boundes between these our 
sayd Colonies, by the agents thereof; who have alsoe 
agreed, that the sayd Pawcatuck river shall bee alsoe call- 
ed alias Narraganset river; and, to prevent other disputes, 
that otherwise might arise thereby, forever hereafter shall 
be construed, deemed and taken to bee the Narraganset 
river in our late graunt to Connecticut Colony mentioned 
as the easterly bounds of that CoUony." Nothing could 
be more explicit than this recital, yet it did not suffice to 
settle the difficulty. The agreement made by the two 
agents, Gov. Winthrop and Dr. Clarke on the part of their 
respective colonies, was disowned by Connecticut, on the 
ground that their agent liad no longer any authority to act 
for the colony, his commission having expired, as they 
said, upon the completion of his labors in obtaining the 
charter.' Even if this were so, we do not see hoAv that ob- 
jection could set aside a Royal grant. It could only aftect 
the force of a statement in the charter which is simply 
explanatory and altogether secondary to the main question 
at issue. Of the fact of the agreement there is no denial. 
Of its binding effect uj)on the two colonies there might be 
a question if the plenary powers of the Connecticut agent 
had ceased, as was asserted, when his charter passed the 

' See Ileport of the Royal Commissioners, October, 1G83, in 1 M. II.' C, v. 
238. 



THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN CLARKE AND "WINTHROP. 297 

seals. But the validity of the grant itself is untouched chap. 
b)^ the error or the accuracy of one of the reasons therein .^^ 
assigned for maldng it. l G G 3. 

This agreement was the result of arbitration. The 
points of difference being submitted to five referees were 
decided by them in four articles. The first fixed Pawca- 
tuck river as the boundary and named it Narraganset. The 
second gave the Quinnebaug tract to Connecticut. The 
third allowed the inhabitants around Smith's trading house, 
being the Atjierton company, to choose to which of the 
two colonies they would submit ; and the fourth declared 
that the rights of property should be maintained through 
the colonies. To these four proposals the two agents as- 
sented, as a final issue of their differences. The second A])ril 
and fourth are unimportant, the other two include the '' 
whole real matter in dispute.^ We cannot understand 
how any such agreement could of itself bind either colony. 
If Winthrop exceeded his powers, as charged by Connecti- 
cut, in giving up territory, Clarke equally exceeded his in 
yielding jurisdiction over a purchase made in violation of 
the laws of Rhode Island ; for the desire of the Atherton 
men to submit to Connecticut was well known, and the 
giving them this choice was nothing less than abandoning 
all control over their lands. It was in fact admitting a 
foreign colony into the heart of the State ; an evil from 
which Rhode Island had already suffered too much in the 
case of Pawtuxet. But Rhode Island did not set up the 
plea that her agent had exceeded his powers. She stood 
on the terms of her charter in the question of boundary, 
and in that of jurisdiction she adopted conciliatory meas- 
ures towards the people of Narraganset. 

We have already seen abundant reasons why the New 
England league should sympathize with Connecticut in 

' The agreement is printed in 1 M. H. C, v. 248, wliere it is dated 17th 
April, and in R. I. Col. Rec, i. 518, with the correct date, 7th April, follow- 
ing the copy presented in the British State Paper Office. Xeiv England pa- 
pers, vol. 3, p. 90. 



298 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, this new occasion of dispute. The fact that their writ- 
ers have steadily endeavored to defend the claim of Con- 
necticut against the rights of Ehode Island, confirmed by 
the King, and to uphold the conduct of Winthrop at the 
expense of Dr. Clarke, while Rhode Island has to this day 
silently submitted to the imputations cast upon her agent, 
conscious of his rectitude, yet careless to preserve his name 
unsullied, has wrought great injustice to one whose charac- 
ter and whose talents appear more exalted the more closely 
they are examined. That foreign historians, seeking to 
give an impartial account of this transaction, should have 
been misled by the only authorities within their reach, and 
thus unwittingly have attached an unmerited stigma to 
the name of John Clarke, is natural and perhai3S inevitable.' 
But tliat New England authors should attempt to honor 
Winthrop by disgracing Clarke does wrong to both, and is 
alike ungenerous and unjust. Between these two great 
men there appears to have existed a cordial friendship, 
which was not broken even by the delicate 230sition into 
which they were thrown by the singular conduct of Con- 
necticut colony. It is true that Winthrop in his letters 
complained that Clarke had not obtained his charter sooner, 
and that he had done him wrong in opposing the Connec- 
ticut charter after its confirmation, thereby hindering his re- 
turn ; and in the same letter he sends a kind message to 
his Rhode Island friends, declaiing that ho had no intent 
to injure them, but only " to render a service to their old 
charter," as well as to the people of Narraganset.- The 
geography of New England was but little understood, in 
the minutiae of courses and distances, even by its inhabi- 
tants, at that time, and the reply to that letter, written by 
the people of Narraganset, as the Atherton settlers were 

■' For a refutation of tlio cliargcs bronglit by Graliairie and endorsed by 
Quincy against Clarke, and for an examination into tlie. reliability of Chal- 
mers, see Appendix C. 

- This letter is Xo. 47 of the 22d vol. of the Trumbull :\ISS. iu the ar- 
chives of the JIas«. Hist. Soc. See Appendix D., No. II. 



THE TRxVDUCERS OF CLARKE EXPOSED. 299 

now called, shows a singular misconception on this point chap. 
either in their minds or in that of Winthrop. It would vJ^^ 
seem as if Winthrop had first, in obedience to instructions 1 C 6 3. 
from Connecticut, bounded that colony on Nari-aganset 
bay ; that, upon being convinced by Clarke of the injustice 
thereby done to Khode Island, he agreed to the adjustment 
mentioned in the Ehode Island charter, and that thus, 
while trying to discharge his duty as the agent of one and 
the friend of the other, he deeply offended both, through 
want of exact\knowledge of the position and limits of the 
disputed territory. ' To retort upon Winthrop the charges 
that his defenders have made against Clarke, would be to 
pervert the truth of history, as has been steadily done by 
those who, anxious to shield their own infamy, or ignorant 
of the secret history of this transaction, have sought to cast 
upon Clarke the stigma of "underhand dealing" that at- 
taches to tliemselves,'or have blindly copied the falsehoods 
of his enemies. Where this disgrace projDcrly belongs, and 
how, and why it was shifted upon the shoulders of Clarke, 
will now be shown. The Atherton' company who, it will 
be remembered, had bought lands in Narraganset contrary 
to the law of Rhode Island, and who had constantly re- 
fused every overture made by the Assembly for their legal 
and proper settlement in the State, being composed of res- 
idents of the other colonies, and of whom AVinthrop him- 
self was one, were earnest in their desire to be placed 
under the jurisdiction of Connecticut. They maintained 
a constant correspondence with Winthrop during his 
mission at London ; the burden of which was that he 
should so establish the boundary of Connecticut as to 
accomplish their purpose. ' They also had a special agent 
of their own in London, one John Scot, whose incautious 
pen has furnished the evidence of his own infamy, and of 
that of his employers, while it pays a tacit tribute to the 

' The reasons that lead to this conchision woiilJ be tedious to embody in 
t!ic text, aud will best appear by perusing the letters inserted in Appendix D. 



300 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

purity of Wintlirop. It was he who obtained the famous 
letter from the King to the United Colonies, committing 
to them the protection of the Atherton Company against 
the claims of Khode Island/ after Winthrop had embarked 
for America, and only seventeen days before the final pas- 
sage of the Rhode Island charter which effectually repeals 
the powers conferred in that letter. It seemed unaccount- 
able that so soon after an agreement had been made by 
which the controversy was supposed to be settled, and one 
of the agents had embarked for home, a royal letter should 
appear, virtually repealing the substance of the agreement, 
and that in less than three weeks from the date of the let- 
ter a royal act of the most solemn nature, an absolute 
j^ilv charter, should issue, making special mention of the said 
'^^ agreement, and practically annulling the royal letter. 
There w^as a confusion of dates, a confounding of powers, 
and a manifest contradiction of purposes about all this, 
^^'hich indicated underhand dealing somewhere. Winthrop 
had left England almost immediately after signing the 
agreement. He, then, was clear of suspicion. Clarke re- 
mained. That circumstance aided the plan of the con- 
spirators to divert suspicion from themselves to him. The 
letter of June was triumphantly exhibited as proof of the 
real intentions of the King, and the fact that its tenor was 
contradicted by the charter of July was held up as proof of 
baseness on the part of the agent of Rhode Island. 

We can now show which was the true document, and 
which was obtained by fraud. An obscure manuscript 
heretofore unnoticed, perhaps from the insignificance of its 
author, fastens upon himself the charge of underhand deal- 
ing, describes the manner in which his object was effected, 
\^ .)] and names the bribe that he gave to obtain it, John Scot, 
'-!•• the special agent of the Atherton company, wrote the let- 
ter, now for the first time printed,- which after the lapse 

' Ante, chap. 8, p. 2S3. The letter is dated June 21, 1G63. 
- See Appendix E for tJiis rcmarkahlc letter, with more comons comments 
thereupon than arc given in the text. 



FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY UNDER THE CHARTER. 301 

of two hundred years, exposes tlie baseness of the enemies chap. 
of Clarke, shows for itself why they so freely charged _1^, 
him with dishonesty, and suLjects its author and his abet- 1663-4. 
tors to the double shame of corruption to obtain their ends, 
and of meanness in seeking to hide their conduct by de- 
faming the character of an honest man. To the honor of 
Winthrop it should be mentioned here that seven years 
later, while Govei-nor of Connecticut, he refused to exercise 
jurisdiction east of Pawcatuck river, alleging as a reason 
his agreementXwith Clarke, which although ignored by 
Connecticut, he a^ least_iieemed to be both legally and 
morally binding upon that colony. The questions of 
boundary and of jurisdiction were virtually one, and are so 
treated in Governor Winthrop's message to the General 
Assembly at Hartford. 

A great amount of business, as varied in kind as it was :Marcli 
complicated in its nature, devolved upon the new Legisla- ^• 
ture. The Assistants were now, for the first time, invested 
with legislative power by the charter, and acted conjointly 
with the deputies. The Courts rcr^uired to be remodelled 
in accordance with the charter. Many laws were to be re- 
pealed as being " inconsistent with the present govern- 
ment," and others enacted in conformity thereto. Diffi- 
culties of a most serious nature within and without the 
colony demanded attention. The new territory of Block 
Island was embraced in the charter, and must be provided 
for. Magistrates were to be apportioned among the towns, 
and the usual amount of private business was to be trans- 
acted. 

Notice being given to all the people to draw near, the 
charter was read, toafcther with Mr. Clarke's letter accom- 
panying it, and Mr. Koger Williams was requested to 
transcribe it. A committee was appointed to draw up a 
prologue to the proceedings of the Court, which prefaces 
the records, and contains a formal acknowledgment of grat- 
itude to the king for his favor. The Assembly then en- 



302 HISTOEY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, tered upon tlic biiyiness of Icg'islation by prescribing tbe 
^^j^ mode of cidling' courts, and tlie times and manner of liold- 
i(i(i3-4. ing tbem. Two General Courts of trials in eacli year Avere 
\_ established, to be held at Newport in. May and October, 
and Avere to consist of the Governor, deputy Governor, or 
either of them, with at least six Assistants. Two other 
Courts of trials were appointed to be held annually, one at 
Providence in September, and one at Warwick in March, 
at which at least three Assistants, and a jury of twelve 
men selected ef[ual]y fi'um each town, should be ])resent. 
An appeal could be taken from these to the General 
Courts. Special Courts might also be called, at the re- 
(j^ucst and expense of any person, with the sanction of 
the Governor or deputy Governor. In the a})poriionmcut 
of grand and petty jurors, Newport was to furnish live of 
each, Portsmouth three, Providence and Warwick two each ; 
but in that of State magistrates, the tvt^o Executives and 
ten Assistants, five were to Ije inhabitants of Newport, 
three of Providence, antl two each, of Portsmouth and 
Warwick ; and the precedency of the towns was settled 
in this latter order, it being that in which they were named 
in the charter. The Assistant " nearest the place occa- 
tion shall present " was to act as Coroner. , ,, 

A rpiestion arose whether by the charter it was j^ro- 
vided that the State magistrates, or Council, sliouhl be 
elected by tlie freemen in toAvn meeting, or by the Gen- 
eral Assembly. It was decided that, unless otherwise ex- 
plained by advices from England, the light of electing 
these officers should vest in the freemen. , ,,,,,- 

An act was passed taking cognizance of the intru- 
sions and attempted usurpations of the Atherton com- 
pany, and a summons was issued requiring them to ap- 
pear at the next session of Asseml)ly, to answer for their 
conduct ; and similar attempts to settle in the colony, 
without leave first obtained IVom the Assembly, were for- 
bidden under' pain of tine and inij iisonment. A com- 



BLOCK ISLAND ANNEXED TO THE COLONY. 303 

mittee was named to treat with Massachusetts upon the chap. 
pending difficulties between the two colonies. Pumham, .J^l^ 
who, at the instigation of Massachusetts, had subjected 166^-4 
himself and his lands to her jurisdiction, and retained ^ 'j_ 
possession of part of the tract purchased by the War- 
wick men, was notified, upon their complaint, tluit he 
was witliin the government of Ehode Island, and must 
adjust his differences with the complainants or submit to 
legal process. A remonstrance to Connecticut colony 
upon the riotous conduct of the men of Southertown, 
and a notice of intention shortly to run the westerly line 
of Ehode Island, were'^fclered to be sent. / 

A curious act is recorded at this session in favor of "^ 
Capt. John Cranston, who, for skill in his profession, was 
licensed " to administer phisicke and joractice chirurge- 
ry." AVe have before mentioned instances of physicians 
being licensed by the Legislature, Ijut in this case the act 
went further, and we have now to record, for the first 
time, the formal conferring of the degree of ]\I. D. upon 
Capt. Cranston in these words : " and is by this Court 
styled and recorded Doctor of j)hissick and chirrurgery, by 
the authority of this the General Assembly of this Col- 
lony." 

Notice was sent to Block Island that the people should 
appear at the May Court to l)e received into the colony, 
and James Sands, already a freeman, was appointed Con- 
stable. This island, the earliest authentic history of 
which dates from the Pequot war, and has already been 
noticed in that connection, remained subject to Massa- 
chusetts until it was annexed to Ehode Island by the 
royal charter. It was granted, as a reward for public 
services, to Gov. Endicott and three others,' who sold it 
two years later for five hundred pounds to Simon Eay 
and eight associates. The fullovring year they commenced 
a settlement, liquidated the Indian title, subject to a res- 

' 19th Oct., 1G58. See M. C. K., iv. Part I., p. 3.5G. 



304 HISTOKY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, ervation in favor of the natives, and set apart one-six- 
^^ tecntli of the lands for tlie support of a minister forever, 

1663-4. Soon afterwards James Sands, who had followed Ann 

?tEn.rcIi 

Hutchinson in her exile to the hanks of the Hudson, re- 
turned and settled on the island. Ahout two years had 
elapsed since the settlement was commenced, when the 
jurisdiction was transferred to Rhode Island. The re- 
moteness of the island rendered it almost independent of 
the colony, and produced a different system of internal 
regulation from that which prevailed in the other towns. 
Its exposed situation rendered it peculiarly liahle to suf- 
fer, not only from the native Indians, hut also from the 
attacks of piratical vessels, hy which it was constantly 
' threatened. The local history of Block Island, truthfullj' 
written, would present an interesting study. The tradi- 
tionary history of the ahorigines is full of the romance of 
war ; their authentic history hi connection with the 
whites, ahounds in stirring incidents ; the peculiarities of 
the English settlers and their posterity, their customs, 
laws and domestic institutions, are among the most singu- 
lar and interesting developments of civilized life ; while 
the martial deeds of a people, within and around whose 
island there has heen more hard fighting than on any ter- 
ritory of equal extent, perhaps, in America, and where 
the horrors of savage and of civilized warfare have alter- 
nately prevailed, almost without cessation, from the ear- 
liest traditionary period down to a recent date, would, 
altogether, furnish materials for a thrilling history that 
^ might rival the pages of romance. 
10. A friendly letter was sent to Connecticut, in con- 

formity to the vote of the Assemhly, reciting a recent 
outrage at Westerly, asking that such acts he prevented 
in future, and requesting the concurrence of Connecticut in 

16 0-4 I'liimiiig the line between the two colonies at an early date. 

March The conflict of jurisdictions placed the Narraganset men 
in a difficult position. They wrote to Connecticut for 



CONFLICTING CLAIMS TO NARRAGANSET. 305 

advice, saying that Richard Smith, jr., was under bonds 
to answer to Rhode Ishind, and that a constable appointed 
by Rhode IsLand might soon be expected at Wickford.' 
The Council at Hartford erected a court at Wickford, 
and conferred on the inhabitants power to choose their 
officers, recommended them to obtain " an able orthodox 
minister," and appointed Capt. Hutchinson to exercise 
all males between the ages of sixteen and sixty in the 
use of arms, six, times a year. Wickford was now a fully 
organized settlei^ent, with, control over "the places ad- 
joining within the Colony of Connecticut." Fortunately, 
at this crisis, a measure was adopted in the King's Coun- 
cil, that prevented a fatal collision between the deter- 
mined and excited disputants. A commission was issued 
to Col. Richard Nichols, Sir Robert Carr, Greorge Cart- 
wright, and Samuel Maverick, to reduce the Dutch prov- 
inces in America to subjection, and to determine all 
questions of appeal and of jurisdiction, and all boundary 
disputes arising in the New England colonies.- 

At the same time a new and formidable claimant ap- 
peared for the contested territory of Narraganset. The 25. 
Duke of Hamilton petitioned the King for confirmation of 
his rights in all that country, and much more, against all ^^:^y 
persons who had intruded upon the grant made to liis 
father, the late Marquis, by the council of Plymouth.^ The 
deed held by the Marquis of Hamilton was given by tlie 
Plymouth company when on the point of surrendering 
their charter, and was of little intrinsic value. ^ It how- 
ever served, in the hands of a powerful nobleman, still 
further to complicate this intricate question. It was a 

' MS. records of Connecticut in R. I. Hist. Soo. 

^ S. P. 0. New England papers, vol. i. p. 194, and Mr. Brown's MS. Col- 
lection, vol. i. 39. 

' S. P. 0. New England papers, vol. i. p. 200, and Jlr. Brown's MS. Col- 
lection, vol. i. -iO. 

* Ante, cliap. i. p. S. The deed was dated April 22d, 1G05, less tliau 
seven weeks before the snrrender. 

VOL. I.— 20 



306 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, deed of feofment, and conveyed a tract extending from 
^J^^ Connecticut river to Narraganset Lay, " about sixty miles" 
1 G 4. lip the west side of tlie bay to the head thereof, and thence 
""^ ■ north-west sixty miles, where the line turned in a south- 
west course to a point sixty miles up north-west from the 
mouth of Connecticut river, and including all islands with- 
in five leagues of these limits. The name given to this 
magnificent grant was " the county of Cambridge," ' 

The session in March had been held chiefly for organ- 
ization and for the preparation of business. The first reg- 
ular Assembly, as established by the charter, met at New- 
i. port in May. Benedict Arnold was chosen Governor, Wil- 
liam Brenton, deputy Governor, Joseph Torrc}^, Recorder, 
James Rogers, Sergeant, John Coggeshall, Treasurer, John 
Easton, Attorney, and Laurence Turner, Solicitor, The 
latter officer declined to serve and was excused. Ten As- 
sistants were also elected, and these seventeen, with eigh- 
teen deputies chosen by the towns, composed the General 
Assembly, As full lists of the seventeen general ofiicers, 
chosen annually by the Assembly are given under each 
year in the printed Colonial Records, we shall hereafter, 
to avoid a tedious catalogue of names, mention only the two 
executive officers. For the same reasons we have not here- 
tofore recorded the lists of commissioners, or deputies im- 
der the first patent. They were eighteen in number at 
this session, and increased two with the addition of every 
new town. The de})uties were chosen for each session of 
the Assembly,- always twice a year, and frequently oftener. 
The name of " Rhode Island and Providence Planta- 
tions," with the word " Hope " above the anchor, was 
ado})ted, or rather continued, as the seal of the colony. 

The afMrs of Block Island were definitely settled at 
this session. Three messengers appeared- from the island 

' S. p. 0. New Englaud, vol. i. 8, and Mr. Brown's MSS., vol. i. No. 10; 
also see Report of Board of Trade on this clniin, 10th May, 101)7, in Mr. 
Brown's MSS., vol. 7, No. 21. 

- James Sands, Thomas Terry aud Joseph Kent. 



CONFLICTING CLAIMS TO NAERAGANSET. 307 

to signify their obedience to liis Majesty's will A petition citai'. 
in behalf of sundry householders on the island, that they .^f.^ 
be received as freemen, was arranted. The scovernment of 10 64. 
the town was vested in the hands of three selectmen, who ^J 
might call town meetings, hear causes of less amount than 
forty shillings, grant appeals to the General Court of 
trials where a larger sum was involved, and issue warrants 
in criminal cases. Liberty to send two deputies to the 
Assembly was given to the town ; a copy of the laws was 
to be furnished them, and their attention was specially di- 
rected to that clause of the charter declaring freedom of 
conscience. 

Massachusetts having appointed two agents to treat 
with Khode Island in regard to Block Island and the Po- 
quot country, John Greene and Joseph Torrey were com- 
missioned to meet them at Rehoboth on the last day of 
the month. Richard Smith, jr., and Thomas Gould of 
Narraganset, were bound over in the sum of four hundred 
pounds each, and two Newport men in one-half that sum, 
to appear when called for, upon the charge of seeking to 
bring in a foreign jurisdiction within the limits of the col- 
ony. These bonds were afterwards released. A warrant 
for the same offence was issued against John Greene, sen., 
who appeared and confessed his tault. Upon petition he 
was pardoned, and received again under protection as a 
freeman of the colony. Richard Smith, sen., was written 
to, to appear before the Court on a similar charge. He 
made no reply to the letter, but enclosed it to Capt. Hutch- -,^^ 
inson, desiring him to inform Connecticut of the affair, 
which he did.^ 

An active correspondence now ensued between Rhode 
Island and the rival claimants for her soil. The meeting 
at Rehoboth with the Massachusetts agents had no im- 
portant results. Block Island had become private prop- 
erty before the transfer, and its owners had since cheerfully 

' These three letters are ia li. I. CoL Rec, ii. 45-9. 



20. 



308 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, adopted the provisions of the charter annexing it to Ehode 
,_J^^ Ishiud. The Pequot conntry, still claimed by Massachu- 
16 64. setts in right of conquest, was by the Connecticut charter 
entirely within her jurisdiction, while the claim of Rhode 
Island for that portion of it east of the river, under her 
more recent chartei', still left Massachusetts out of the 
question ; besides which, the royal commissioners had 
power to arrange all such disputes, so that further discus- 
sion was useless. The report of the agents was accepted 
by the General Court. ^ Plymouth now entered the field, 
''^' complaining in a letter to Rhode Island of intrusions upon 
her limits. But the most serious dispute in progress was 
that with Connecticut, No direct reply having been re- 
ceived to tlie letter written in March, but only an intima- 
tion from Governor Winthrop, tliat its contents would be 
July considered by the Assembly at. Hartford, another letter 
'^' was sent, by a special messenger, referring to the former 
one, and stating what had since been done by Rhode 
Island with regard to the Connecticut officers in Narra- 
ganset, whose commissions, it was urged, should be re- 
voked. These officers, Richard Smith and William Hud- 
son, with Edward Hutchinson then residing at Boston, also 
12. wrote to Connecticut about some resistance offered to tlie 
administrator of Capt. Atlierton's estate, who, in l^elialf of 
the heir, had endeavored to take x>ossessioii of the property, 
but was resisted by the tenant who claimed allegiance to 
Rhode Island, although he was one of those who had sub- 
scribed the submission to Connecticut two years before. 
Indeed, several of the Narraganset settlers had already 
changed their views, and were inclined to Rhode Island, 
while the original purchasers, many of whom resided in 
Boston, remained firm in their preference for Connecticut. 
20. Connecticut replied to both of the Rhode Island letters, 
proposing a joint commission to meet in October to settle 
all disputes, but asserting her claim to jurisdiction, defend- 

' 19th Oct., M. C. ];., Vol. iv. Part ii. p. 140. 



Alu 



SUBJUGATION OF THE DUTCH PROVINCES. 309 

ing the acts of her officers, and desiring Khode Island to chap. 
forbear further interference with them. .^C-^ 

On the arrival of the English commissioners at Boston, 10 6 4. 
Gov. Endicot assembled the Council, to receive the royal '23 
letter and the instructions that required them to raise a 20. 
force to act against the Dutch, if it should be necessary. 
A special session of the General Court was held, and two 
hundred men were voted for the service, to be ready by the 
twentieth of tlie month. But their services were not re- 
quired, for upon the appearance of the fleet off the port, 
New Amsterdam, now New York, surrendered to the Brit- 07 

ish crown. Arania, now Albany, soon followed, and after- Sept. 

li 
wards Delaware castle, and other forts held by the Dutch 

and Swedes, likewise surrendered to Sir Robert Carr. The 

whole conquered territory was placed under the government 

of Col. Nichols. 

The Commissioners of the United Colonies, sitting at 
Hartford, of course took ground against Rhode Island, and 9. 
addressed to her a letter full of warning and advice, based 
upon the royal letter of the previous year, wherein the Nar- 
raganset purchasers were placed under their protection. • 
Probably they did not know by what means that letter 
had been obtained. Rhode Island took no notice of this 
missive, but acknowledged receipt of the one from Con^ 
necticut, and referred it to the General Assembly for a 
more fuU reply. 

The royal Commissioners, having nearly completed the 
subjugation of the Dutch provinces, had their head-quarters 
on board the English fleet now being in the harbor of New 
York. A delegation consisting of John Clarke, who had 
lately returned home, Capt. John Cranston and William 
Dyre, was sent on with a letter from the authorities of 
Rhode Island, expressing the gratitude of the colony to his 
Majesty for the charter, and congratulating the Commis- 
sioners. It appears by this letter that a i:)revious one, of 

* Hazard's State Paper.", ii. 499. 



20. 



310 HISTOKY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, like purport, had been sent by the hands of Capt. Baxter, 

^4-^ ^^^^ ^'^ ^^^^^ ti^^^G i*^ '^'^^^^ ^*^^ knoAvn where the Commission- 

1 6 G-4. ers could be found. The messengers were kindly received, 

and a gracious answer was sent back on their return. The 

courtesy was acknowledged by deputy Governor Brenton, 

8, in another letter, inviting the Commissioners, upon their 

visiting Khode Island, to make their home at his house. ' 
13. The Connecticut Assembly, at their next meeting, ajJ- 

pointed a committee to arrange the boundary questions 
pending between that colony and both Ehode Island and 
Massachusetts, but ordered that they should not give up 
any portion of their charter limits.' This, so far as con- 
cerned Ehode Island, was equivalent to making no ap- 
pointment. 

At the meeting of the General Assembly the name of 
John Clarke appears at the head of the list of deputies. 
He had returned in June, after an absence of twelve years, 
spent in the faithful service of the colony, in England, and 
again resumed a place in the public councils, where, under 
the first patent, he had been so useful. The joy of the As- 
sembly in having him once more among them, is evinced 
in a singular and emphatic manner in the preamble to the 
first public law passed at this session, establishing prox}- 
voting ; " and this present Assemljly (now by God's gra- 
cious providence enjoying the heli')full presauce of our much 
honoured and beloved Mr. Johii Clarke,) doth declare and 
ordayne, &c." 

It was ordered that at every meeting of the Assembly, 
whether regular or adjourned, the charter should bo read. 
The inconvenience to the freemen of the remote tow^ns, oc- 
casioned by having to vote in person at Newport, had at- 
tracted the attention of the Assembly at its May session, 
and been referred to this Assembly to devise some legal 

' The original letters are both in S. P. 0. New England papers, vol. i. pp. 
206-9. 

- Col. Rec. of Connecticut, ii. -135. 



li>. 



PROXY VOTES. THE INTERPOLATED PHRASES. 311 

mode of voting by proxy. They enacted that all who did qraf. 
not come in person to Newport might give their votes, ^J^^ 
sealed iii? and snhscribed wdtli. their own names on the 10()4. 
outside, into the hands of a magistrate at any regular town 
meeting, to be delivered to the Executive at the Court oi 
election in Newport, there to be opened and counted. If 
the voter was prevented from attending town meeting, the 
magistrate might yet receive his vote in the same manner. 
Edmund Calverly, a deputy from Warwick, had made 
serious charges against the Grovernor, in respect to his of- 
ficial conduct, which were discussed, and the complainant 
required to prefer his charges in writing. He did so, but 
failing to sustain them, in the opinion of the court, he 
was suspended from voting until he should gire satisfac- 
tion for his offence.' ' • 

A committee was appointed to revise the laws, to see 
if any were left unrepealed that were inconsistent with the 
present charter, and to codify them for more ■ convenient 
reference. At the head of this committee was John Clarke, 
and the second member was Roger Williams ; two names, 
of which the presence of either sufficiently refutes the slan- 
der contained in Chalmers,"^ and copied by later writers, 
attributing the interpolated restrictions upon religious free- 
dom to the act of this Assembly, That these words [pro- 
fessing Christianity] and [Roman Catholics excepted] were 
the additions of later times, is as clear as any fact in his- 
tory. That they were never placed there at all by the 
dehberate act of the Legislature of Rhode Island, but were 
occasioned by some contingency of English politics, we fully 
believe, and that the time will come when this unjust as- 
persion upon the freedom of the State will be explained, 
and its character bo vindicated beyond a doubt — as recent 
developments have brought to light the conspiracy against 

' At the May session the next year, Calverly failing to prove his charges, 
the Governor was declared by a vote of the Assembly to be innocent of the 
matters charged. 

'■^ Political Annals, Book i. chap. xi. 



312 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

the reputation of Clarke — we are lirmly convinced. Tins 
subject will Ije considered at length in a later volume when 
we come to the repeal of the interpolated phrases. 

Agents were appointed to treat with Plymouth, two 
of whom were the deputy Governor and Roger Williams. 
Tliey were commissioned to run the eastern line of the 
colony in connection with Plymouth agents. A letter was 
sent to Plymouth, suggesting the time and place for a 
meeting to arrange differences between the colonies. A 
similar course was ado})ted as to Connecticut. John 
Clarke, John Greene, and Joseph Torrey were commissioned 
to run the western line, and to arrange all other disputes 
with the Connecticut agents ; but should these refuse to 
run the line, the Rhode Island men were to do it alone. 
A letter wfis also sent to Connecticut, regretting that the 
day fixed by the Hartford Assembly for this purpose was 
passed, and naming the twenty-ninth of November as the 
time for a meeting at Southertown, alias Pawcatuck. 
'Nov. Warrants were ordered for the arrest of William Hud- 

son, of Boston, and Richard Smith, sen., of Narraganset, for 
unlawfully exercising the office of constable Avithin the 
limits of the colony under a Connecticut commission ; but 
these warrants were not to issue till after the time ap- 
pointed to treat with Connecticut, 

A law w^as jmssed at this session which shows the wis- 
dom and tbresight of our ancestors, in obviating the diffi- 
culties that might arise from the existence of third parties 
at a general election ; " that whereas there may happen 
a division in the vote soe as the greater halfe may not j)itch 
directly on one certaine person, yett the person which hath 
the most votes shall be deemed lawfully chosen." H will 
thus be seen that a plurality choice was early adopted in 
this State. It was also provided, that in case of refusal 
to accept office, the vacancy was to be filled by the Gen- 
eral Assembly until the place was supplied. 

The old law re(|uiring each town to furnish itself with 



HEAVY TAXATION AND POVERTY OF THE PEOPLE. 313 

a cage, or a pair of stocks, wherein to secure offenders, was chap. 
reC'nacted. ^■^■ 

An audit of the accounts of John Clarke showed a sum l •'> 'i^. 
of three hundred and forty-three pounds to be due to him 
by the colony for his expenses while obtaining the charter, 
one hundred and one of which were to be paid in England, 
and one hundred pounds had been voted as a gratuity the 
previous year. To meet this debt, and the expenses of the 
several boundary commissions recently appointed, a tax of 
six hundred pounds, current money, was laid. Of this 
Providence and Portsmouth were taxed one hundred 
pounds each, Warwick eighty pounds, Petacomscot twenty 
pounds, Conanicut thirty-six pounds. Block Island fifteen 
pounds, and Newport the balance, being two hundred and 
forty-nine pounds. In the collection of this tax wheat was 
valued, in colony currency, at four and sixpence per bushel, 
peas at three and sixpence, and pork at three pounds ten 
shillings per barrel. It was a heavy burden for the im- 
poverished towns, and years elapsed before it was paid. 
Warwick sent a formal protest against the large proportion Doc 
assessed to her.' More than a year elapsed before Ports- 
mouth levied her proportion, and then she sent a deputa- 
tion to treat with Dr. Clarke on the subject.- Providence 
was (}n[ually backward in meeting the demand. The 
northern towns complained that they had been at heavy 
charges for the two missions of Roger Williams, and there- lGGl-5 
fore should not bear so large a proportion of those for that 
of Dr. Clarke. The rate remained uncollected until en- 
forced by a subsequent Assembly. That it should be so, 
and that Mr. Williams also was never fully paid even his 
expenses, attests the poverty of the colonists at this time. 

The arrival of Sir Robert Carr at NewjDort, where he j , 
was detained some days by a storm, gave great satisfaction 23. 
to the people of Rhode Island. Whatever fears were felt 

, ^ ;_, ' Printed in R. I. Col. Rec. ii. 78. 

'•^ See Portsmouth Records, March 1G05- 



Feb. 

2. 



314 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, by the rest of New England at the coming of these men, 
^^^ ■ their presence was no source of regret in this jurisdiction. 
16C-1-5. r£\^Q protection that a roj^al commission invariably afforded 
to the oppressed and hated colony, while it embittered the 
animosity of her neighbors, increased the feeling of loyalty 
that a sense of gratitude had inspired, and which was dis- 
played in something more than fulsome or hollow profes-. 
27. sions. Leaving Newport Sir Eobert spent some days with 
Mr. Willet, at his residence on Narraganset bay, and per- 
suaded him to go to New York, where, it will be remem- 
bered, he became the first Mayor of that city. The letter 
that Carr wrote at this time to Col. Nichols is full of in- 
terest.^ He had brought to Rhode Island the roj^al letter, 
and one from Lord Clarendon to the colony, which had 
been given them on their departure from England to be 
delivered in person to this Government. A grateful ac- 
8. knowledgment was made by the Governor to Col. Nichols, 
wherein the conduct of the Narraganset company was ad- 
verted to and protection sought against their proceedings." 
Complaints were made to Connecticut by the Pawca- 
tuck Indians of the conduct of James Babcock and other 
inhabitants of Westerly in demanding rent, and threaten- 
ing to drive them from their lands. The Council at Hart- 
ford warned the Ehode Island men to forbear from urging 
]0. their claims while the question of jurisdiction remained 
open. A special council was called to appoint a committee 
to attend Gov. Winthrop to Narraganset, there to meet the 
royal commissioners and urge the claim of Connecticut to 
that country under her chartei-. 
15. Upon the return of the three commissioners from New 

York, leaving Col. Nichols there in command, they pre- 
pared at once to visit the several colonies, and to investi- 
gate the conflictin<>; claims for the soil of Rhode Island. 
Plvmouth received their first attention. The General As- 



20, 



' Original in S. P. 0. New England, Vol. i. p. 2lS. 
- K. I. Col. Eec. ii. 8G-'J. 



OEGANIZATION OF KIJSTGS PROVINCE. 315 

sembly held a special session to prepare for tlicir reception chai-. 
at Newport, and appointed a committee' to meet with the ..^,1^:^ 
commissioners at Seaconck to adjust the boundary with ^^^t"''- 
Plymouth. All the expenses of the royal commissioners 27. 
were to he borne by the colony. The commissioners could 
not make a definite settlement of the line between Ply- 
mouth and Ehode Island. In their report to Lord Arling- 
ton they say that the two colonies could not agree, for that 
Rhode Island claimed a strip three miles in breadth cast 
of the bay, which Plymouth could not concede without 
great prejudice to her interests, and therefore they had, for 
the present, established the bay as the boundary until his 
Majesty's will could be known. Thence the commission- March 
ers came to Ehode Island. In their instructions they were 
furnished with a series of propositions to present to each 4. 
of the colonies, a copy of which was forthwith given to the 
Governor.^ Soon afterwards the commissioners went over 
to Pettaquamscot to settle the affairs of Narraganset. 
There the submission of the Narraganset sachems was con- 
firmed. The Indians agreed to pay an annual tribute of 20. 
two wolf skins, and not to make war or to sell land with- 
out consent of the authorities appointed over them by the 
crown. ^ The whole country from the bay to Pawcatuck 
river was named Kings Province, and all persons were for- 
bidden to exercise jurisdiction therein without authority 
from the commissioners. The governor and council of 
Rhode Island, fourteen in number, were appointed Magis- 
trates of Kings Province, to hold office until the annual 
election in May. The mortgaged lands held by the Ath- 
erton company, were ordered to be released npon payment 
of seven hundred and thirty-five fathoms of peage by Pes- 

' John Clarke, John Sandford, Jolui Cranston, Rogur Williams and Ran- 
daU Hoi den. 

- These are printed in R. I. Col. Rec., ii. 110, with the action of the As- 
sembly thereon. 

'■' S. P. 0. New luigland papers, Vol. i. p. '231. 



31^ HISTORY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, sicus or Mnecraft to any of the claimants. The purchase 
^J^:^ of the two tracts, actually bought hy this company, was 
1 G 6 5. declared void for lack of consideration in the deed, and he- 
cause the country had previously been surrendered to the 
crown, and the purchasers were ordered to vacate the 
premises within six months, provided the Indians should 
refund the sum of three hundred fathoms of peage, which 
was all they had ever received for the land.' At the ex- 
piration of the time the order to vacate was revoked, and 
the settlers were permitted to remain till his Majesty's will 
was further known. From Pettaquamscot the commis- 
_.. sioners proceeded to Warwick. There the controversy 
^ 4. about the lands of Westerly Avas decided in unequivocal 
terms, by a decree that no lands conquered from the na- 
tives should be disj^osed of by any colony unless both the 
cause of the conquest was just and the soil was included 
in the charter of the colony ; and further that no colony 
should attempt to exercise jurisdiction beyond its chartered 
limits. The grants made by Massachusetts " or by that 
usurped authority called the United Colonies," were de- 
clared void, the settlers upon such grants were ordered to 
vacate before the twenty-ninth of September, and not to 
prevent the Pequots from planting during the summer nor 
to interfere with the improvements of the lawful pur- 
cliasers.'- Pumham, the subject of Massachusetts, who 
still refused to leave AVarwick Neck, although the land 
had been fairly purchased from his superior sachem many 
years before, was ordered by the commissioners to remove 
within a year to some place to be provided for him either 
by Massachusetts or by Pcssicus. For this he was tp re- 
ceive twenty pounds from Warwick, and if he subjected 
himself to Pessicus, the latter was to receive ten pounds, 
upon furnishing him and his men v.ith a })lace. The 
money was paid by Warwick, but Pumham refused to ful- 

' This imjjortaut decree is in Potter's Narr;>ganset R. I. II. C, iii. I 70. 
■ U. I. Col. Rec, ii. 9 !. 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL COMMISSIONERS. 317 

fil his former contract or to obey the order of the commis- chap. 
sioners, relying, as it appears, uj)on the continued protec- _;___, 
tiou of Massachusetts. ^ A further decree was issued making 16 6 5. 
the governor, deputy, and twelve assistants, who might g 
hold these offices, from time to time, by election in Rhode 
Island, to he likewise magistrates of Kings Province, hav- 
ing the entire control of that territory, and any seven of 
them might constitute a court therein. 

At the May election a great change was made in the ^['ly 
list, of Assistants, hut three of the old set being returned. 
Two additional deputies, elected from Block Island, took 
their seats. A new form of engagement to be taken by 
the officers, and of reciprocal engagement to be given to 
them, by the administering officer, in the name of the State, 
was adopted. The royal commissioners had not only to 
adjust the disputes of a public nature in the colonies, but 
a great number of private matters were submitted to their 
decision upon petition of the parties. Such were, for the 
most part, referred by them to the local authorities to de- 
termine, and much of the time of the Assembly at this 
session was occupied in those affairs. Some of them had a 
bearing upon the public interests, involving charges against 
the Assembly itself, as did the cases of Calverley and of 
William Harris, which, for this reason, were referred back 
to the commissioners. William Dyre, the newly chosen 
Solicitor for the colony, having been guilty of a similar im- 
propriety, in a petition to the commLssioners, admitted his 
fault, in writing, to the Assembly, and received pardon. 

The five propositions presented by the commissioners 
on their first coming to Rhode Island were placed before 
the Assembly. They are as follows : " It is his Majesty's 
will and pleasure ; 

" 1. That all householders inhal)iting tliis colony take 
the oath of allegiance, and that the administration of 
justice be in his Majesty's name. , :; 

' R. I. Col. Rec, ii. 132. 



318 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP. " 2. That all men of competent estates and of civil con- 

,_;^j_, versation, who acknowledge and are obedient to the civil 
1 G65. magijstratc, though of different judgments, may be admit- 
ted to 1)0 freemen, and have liberty to choose, and 1o be 
chosen, officers both military and civil. 

'■■ 3. That all men and women of orthodox opinion, coin- 
petent knowledge, and civil lives, who acknowledge and 
are obedient to the civil magistrate, and are not scandalous, 
may be admitted to the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, 
and their children to Baptisme, if they desire it, either by 
admitting them into the congregations already gathered, 
or permitting them to gather themselves into such congre- 
gations where they may enjoy the benefit of the Sacra- 
ments, and that difference in 02)iuion may not break the 
bond of peace and charity. 

" 4. That all laws and exjiressions inlaws derogatory to 
his Majesty, if any such have been made in these late and 
troublesome times, may be repealed, altered and taken off 
the files. 

" 5. That the colony be put into such a posture of de- 
fence that if there should be any invasion upon this island, 
or elsewhere in this colony (which God forbid) you might 
in some measure be in readiness to defend yourselves, or if 
need l)e, to relieve your neighbors according to the power 
given you by the King in your charter, and to us in the 
King's commission and instructions." 

Upon these proposals the Assembly took immediate 
action. For the oath required in the first, they plead the 
scruples of many in the colony against that particular 
form, but prepared " an engagement " of similar purport, 
and which, so far as concerned its binding force, was to the 
same eftect. This was to be administered to all the free- 
men at their next town meetings, w^hoever refused to take 
it was to be disfranchised, and no one could be admitted 
a freeman without first taking it. The second projoosal 
was accepted, and the mode of application for those who 



ACTION OF THE ASSEMBLY UPON THE FIVE PROPOSITIONS. 319 

desired to be made frcemeil was prescribed. The third chap. 
met with the cordial concurrence of the Assembly. It was ^^^ 
in unison with the spirit of the colony, and with the terms 16 65. 
of the charter. In embodying it in the instructions of the 
commissioners, for the good of all the American colonies, 
Charles II. exhausted the force of his famous promise con- 
tained in the Declaration of Breda. The toleration thus 
extended to the remote dependencies was denied to those 
to whom it had iiist been pledged. The hearty accept- 
ance by the Assembly of this recommendation contrasts 
with the qualified assent given to it by Plymouth, the 
most liberal of the other colonies, where payment for the 
support of the settled ministers was insisted upon, in their 
reply, to be made by all " until they have one of their own." 
The essence of an established church, the compulsory sup- 
port of its clergy, was thus maintained even in the liberal 
colony of the Pilgrims. Connecticut assented to the same 
proposition on condition that the maintenance of the 
public minister was not hindered.' Upon the fourth pro- 
posal the Assembly declared that all acts of the nature re- 
ferred to were repealed when the King was proclaimed, 
and a further revision of the laws was ordered for that spe- 
cific purpose. It was probably owing to this step that 
the leaf of the Warwick records was afterwards torn out by 
order of the town.'^ 

In obedience to the last command, to place the colony 
in a posture of defence, the Assembly passed a militia law 
requiring six trainings a year, under a heavy penalty, and 
allowing nine shillings a year for the pay of each enlisted 

' S. P. 0. New England, v. i. p. 248-58. 

■ The inscription records the contents and is as follows : " This leafe was 
torn ont by order of y" towne the 29th of June, l(i67, it being y- submition 
to y" Stat of England without y" King Majesty, it being y I3th page." Yet 
a former entry to the same effect as the one here destroyed seems to have es- 
caped the observation of the clerk, and remains to this day on the ancient 
records of the town as passed March 8th, 1G52-3. The Providence records 
were not mutilated, and the entry remains in the same words as that of War- 



320 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, soldier. Every man was required to keep on hand two 

J:^^!^ pounds of powder, and four of lead. Each town was obliged 

16G5. to maintain a public magazine for it« own defence, for 

" ■ ' which Newport Avas taxed fifty pounds and tlie other three 

towns each twenty pounds. 

"Coddington, who with Easton and others had become 
Quakers, had sent a paper to the commissioners in March, 
of what nature we are unable to say, to which an answer 
was made immediately and communicated to the gov- 
ernor, to be presented to the Quakers in presence of the 
Assembly. This was done, and at the same time a copy 
15. of the five propositions was served upon them to consider 
and obey. 

• The action of the General Assembly, in private cases, 
was not limited in these early .times, to legislative meas- 
ures. Indeed the Court of trials was made up from its 
members, and the whole body often exercised strictly ju- 
dicial powers upon petition of individuals. Not only 
were divorces granted and a sejiarate maintenance award- 
ed to the wife, but the whole property of the husl)and 
was attached and held by the Assembly, until the pro- 
visions of the decree had been satisfied. In the case of 
John Porter, at this session, they went even further, and 
annulled all transfers of property, that had been made by 
him since the separation from his wife, which had not al- 
ready been recorded. Upon his sottling a satisfactory 
estate upon tlie wife these disabilities were removed. 

Criminal causes were likewise tried, upon petition, by 
the Assembly. Peter Tollman applied for a divorce from. 
his wife on the ground of adultery. The woman, being 
brought before the Asseml)ly, admitted the charge. The 
petition was granted at once, and then the criminal, upon 
her own confession, was arraigned for sentence. The pen- 
alty was a fine and whipping, and she was accordingly 
sentenced, by the terms of the law, to pay the fine of ten 
pounds, and to receive fifteen stripes at Portsmouth on 



PEOrOSED HARBOR AT BLOCK ISLAND, 321 

the ensuing Monday, and on tlie following week another chap. 
fifteen stripes at Newport, and to be imprisoned until the ,„,^1^ 
sentence was fulfilled. Upon her petition for mercy the 16 05. 
Court again examined her as to whether she intended 
to return to her husband. This she refused to do upon 
any terms. Her petition was denied, and she was re- 
manded for punishment. ' 

The wide distinction recognized in our day between 
the three branches of government was not so early under- 
stood. Under tlie first patent the President and Assistants 
were executive officers, and had no share in legislation in 
virtue of their position. By the royal charter the governor 
and council became ex-officio legislators in common with 
■ the deputies, and all alike exercised judicial powers. At 
this time they sat together as one House of Assembly, and 
although a movement was made the next year to alter 
this system, it was still thirty years before the two bodies 
were fully recognized as separate and co-ordinate branches 
of the legislature, and more than eighty years before judi- 
cial powers ceased to be exercised by them, upon the 
establishment of a supreme court of judicature. 

The necessity of a harbor at Block Island was so ap- ' 
parent to the first settlers, that they took the earhest oc- 
casion afforded by the presence of their deputies in the 
General Assembly, to petition for a committee of inquiry 
upon the subject ; and so important was it, in the opinion 
of the Assembl}', that the governor, deputy governor, and 
John Clarke, were appointed to visit the island to see if 
a harbor could be made there, and what encouragement 
could thus be given to the fisheries. This was the first 
movement in a matter that has ever since occupied, at 

' She escaped from prison and was gone two years. Upon her return to 
the colony in May 1667, she was arrested and petitioned the Court for miti- 
gation of sentence. The fine and one-half of the corporal punishment was 
remitted, and the remainder, fifteen stripes to be inflicted at Newport, was ex- 
ecuted. 

VOL. I.— 21 



322 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

various times, the public atteutiou, and which has re- 
cently assumed its proper form as a national measure, 

1 G G 5. more important to American commerce than to the hardy 

^ ^"\ islanders themselves. 

The Warwick men had })resented to the commissioners, 
upon their first coming to Khode Island, a petition set- 
ting forth the grievances they had suffered from Massachu- 
setts, and asking redress. They had in vain sought jus- 
tice from their oppressors, Ijy letters and remonstrance, 
before a})pealing to the king,' and had once voluntarily 
informed the United Colonics of their intention to appeal, 
so that they might prepare their answer to the crown.'- 
Attention to their case was v^'ithin tlie scope of the royal 
commission. It was presented in proper season, and laid 
before the authorities of Massachusetts for them to answer. 
This they did at the session of the General Court, in a 
30. very lengthy, abusive, and rambling document, made up 
of theological discussion, personal invective, and positive 
misstatements, wherein they profess " to compare the 
petition, first, with its authors, second, with their princi- 
ples, and third, with tlie whole transaction,'"' and which 
they style " an apologetical reply." ^ 

The commission itself was very distasteful to Massa- 
chusetts. They regarded it, justly, as an interference 
by the crown with their self-assumed prerogative to con- 
trol New England, and they dreaded that any such power 
should come among them. The proceedings of the com- 
missioners were bitterly denounced by the General Court. 
Among the alleged wrongs committed by them, " the 
great countenance given to the Ehode Islanders," and 
their " calling, in their public declarations, the United 
Colonies ' that usurped authoritj^,' " occupy a conspicuous 

■ One of these letters dated August 22d, IGGl, is printed iu E. I. II. C, 
ii. 224-31. 

- Fept. 1, 1651. R. I. H. C, ii. 217-19. 

^ Tlie petition and answer are given in full in M. C. R,, vol. iv. Part ii. 
p. 253-65, and in R. I. H. C, ii. 231-45. 



MASSACHUSETTS AND THE ROYAL COIMMISSIONERS. 323 

place. The temper of the Court may be gathered from a chap. 
letter to the author of the petition, hy one of the com- .^^^1^ 
missioners, while the suhiect was under discussion in that 16 6 5. 
body.^ The controversy was again transferred to Eng- 
land. The General Court, fearing the effect of such a 
report as the commissioners must necessarily make, ^y„. 
adopted an address to the King, sufficiently humble in its 1- 
terms, but peevish in its spirit, complaining that the 
commissioners had violated the royal instructions by frus- 
trating the objects for which they were sent. Deprecat- 
ing the misrepresentations that these commissioners 
would probably make with regard to Massachusetts, the 
address vaunts the superiority of its authors by denounc- 
ing most of those who complain against them, " as In- 
dians, Quakers, libertines and malefactors." It concludes 
with a display of piety and loyalty as repulsive, in this 
connection, as it was unfounded.'- 

Most of the towns being still in arrears for the debt Oct. 
due to John Clarke, the Greneral Assembly renewed the -^• 
order to collect the tax, and notified the delinquent towns 
to that effect. 

The commissioners, having completed their examina- ^J^- 
tion of all the New England colonies, seven in numl)er, sent 
home a long report, giving a sketch of the history and ac- 
tual condition of each one. That concerning Massachu- 
setts is the longest and expresses the most dissatisfaction. 
It was the last colony visited, as the commissioners vainly 
hoped that the condescension of the other colonies might 

' " Mr. Gorton. These gentlemen of Boston 'wovtIJ make us believe that 
they verily think that the King has given them so much power in their char- 
ter to do unjustly, that he reserved none for himself, to call them to an ac- 
count for doing so. In short they refuse to let us hear complaints against 
them, so that, at present, we can do nothing in your behalf. But I hope 
shortly to go for England, where, if God bless me thither, I shall truly rep- 
resent your sufferings and your loyalty. Your assured friend, George Cart- 
wright. Boston, 26th May, 1665." R. I. H. C, ii. 246. The government 
copy is in British S. P. 0. New England papers, vol. iii. p. 3. 

"^ M. C. R., vol. iv. Part ii. p. 274-5. 



324 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

tend to diiniuisli tlie refractory spirit there shown ; but 
they could not obtain a hearing even upon some cases 

16 65. specified in the royal letter, to be determined by them.' 
The substance of the report on Khode Island may be 
gathered from what has before been written. Of the 
Narraganset Bay, it says, "it is the largest and safest 
port in New England, nearest the sea, and fittest for 
trade." A very remarkable point in this report is the al- 
lusion to what is probably the earliest known temperance 
petition, that of Pessicus, Sachem of the Narragansets, 
desiring '' the commissioners to pray King Charles that 
no strong liquors might be brought into that country, for 
he had thirty-two men that dyed by drinking of it." This 
and all the other original papers referred to, were un- 
fortunately lost, the ship in which Col. Cartwright sailed 
for England having been captured by the Dutch. 

Although the labors of the commissioners were now 
ap23arently ended, some of their decrees remained un- 
noticed, and required further attention. Pumham still 
lingered in the sylvan retreat of Warwick Neck, Sir 
Robert Carr held a conference wdth Cheesechamut, son 
28. of the old Sachem, at Smith's trading house, that resulted 
in an agreement to remove at once beyond the bounds of 
Kings Province, upon receiving the ten pounds that Pes- 
sicus was to have, and ten pounds more from the people of 

1665-6. Warwick. He acknowledged receipt of thirty pounds, be- 
ing ten pounds more than was formerly promised, and six 
days later the additional ten pounds was jiaid into the 
9. hands of Pumham. John Eliot, the Indian apostle, im- 
mediately wrote to Sir Robert Carr, interceding in behalf 

of Pumham, but without effect. Sir Robert, after waitine; 
Feb. . 

24 nearly a month, sent a peremptory order for the Indians to 

move within one week, and also replied to Eliot, rather 

^^- sharply, for what he justly considered an ill-timed although 

' The entire report is in S. P. O. New England, vol. i. p. 248-58. The 
Report on Rhode Island is in R. I. Col. Roc, ii. 127-9. 



Jau. 
3. 



KEMOVAL OF PUMHAM. 325 

well intended, interference on the jmrt of the missionary, chap. 
for whose satisfaction he graciously forwarded copies of the y^:^ 
transactions in regard to Pumham. Roger Williams also 10 6 6. 

AT. • 1 

wrote to Carr upon the same subject, giving the history \ 
of the disjjute, and wisely advising him that force could 
effect nothing permanent against Pumham, until the 
commissioners had first reduced Massachusetts to obedi- 
ence to his majesty, because these Indians were sustained 
by Massachusetts in their resistance. He concludes by 
suggesting that they be allowed, to remain until harvest, 
that thus, through his mediation, a peaceable adjustment 
may be reached. Sir Robert sent for Mr. Williams, and, 
satisfying him of the proceedings, obtained his active as- 
sistance in the immediate removal of Pumham. Thus 
this " old ulcerous business " was finally concluded, to the 
great relief of the peoj^le of the colony, who, for more than 
twenty years, had been harassed by the intrigues of their 
neighbors with these turbulent natives.^ 

The delay of the towns, in paying Dr. Clarke, called 
forth a severe letter from Roger Williams, addressed to 
Warwick, as the greatest delinquent, which gave deep of- 
fence. It was received on a training day, and was read at 
the head of the company ; not an unusual mode of publi- 
cation in those times, for even the banns of marriage were 
by law proclaimed in the same manner. The action of 
the town is worthy of note. It was at once emphatic, and 
under the circumstances, feeling as they did insulted by 
the tenor of the missive, it was perhaps the most digni- 
fied course they could adopt. They "voted that the said 
letter is- a pernicious letter, tending to stir up strife in the 
town, and that the town clerk record this vote and send a 
copy of it to Mr. Williams, as the town's answer to the 

' The orders and letters here referred to, relating to Pumham, are printed 
in R. I. Col. Rec, ii. 182-8. The diligence of Secretary Bartlett in collect- 
ing the documents that go to make up a continuous history of the State, and 
inserting them between the bare records of the Assembly's proceedings, is 
worthy of all commendation. 



26. 



27 



326 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

OHAI'. said letter, no man dissenting." It sLould be remembered 
sj^:^ that Warwick had, at the time, protested against her 
16 0. jiroportion of the tax, giving some cogent reasons I'or her 
"'*^ dissent ; and it is probable that Williams's letter was not 
so mild in its language as so delicate a subject required. 
But that the colony agreed with his view of the case ap- 
pears from the action of the Assembly that met the next 
day. The Warwick protest was considered, and it was 
ordered " that a letter shall be sent to them from the 
Court to provocke and stirr them up to pay the rate 
20. spedilye," and a similar letter was prepared to be sent to 
Providence. 

The form of the engagements to be taken by freemen 
and officers was a frequent matter of legislation. So great 
was the variety of opinion, and the latitude given to ten- 
der consciences in the colony, that it was a work of time 
to devise some form of words that slioidd not be objection- 
able to any. Verbal alterations and slight modifications 
were made at different sessions, some of Avhich, in our less 
scru])ulous times, appear puerile. At this session a com- 
mittee consisting of the Governor and Nicolas Easton, the 
latter being a Quaker, reported upon the subject of the 
freemen's engagement, recommending either the form al- 
ready prescribed by the Assembly, or the oath of allegiance 
as required in England, or if objections to either of these 
forms existed, the party might adopt any equivalent words 
satisfactory to the Court. ^ 

An important subject brought to the notice of previous 

'The officers' eugar^oment was adopted May IGGt, altered May 1GC5, 
amended May 1GG7. See E. I. Col. Rec., ii. 57, 07, 187. That for the free- 
men was adopted May 1GG5, modified March IGGG, pp. 1J2, 141-2, and gave 
rise to the slander circulated by Brinlcy in 1 M. II. C, v. 219, and transmit- 
ted by Holmes, Annals, 1, JUl, that the Quakers were outlawed by Rliode 
Island in 1GG5. This has been sufficiently refuted by Judge Eddy in 2 M. H. 
C, vii. 1)7; by Knowles' Memoir of Roger Williams, 324, and cursorily b}- 
Bancroft U. S., ii. 67. In fact at that time there were two Quakers, if not 
more, members of the Assembly, and one of them was the next year, IGGG, 
chosen Deputy Governor. 



MODE OF ADMITTING FREEMEN. 327 

Assemblies by petition from Warwick and Portsmouth/ chap. 
was now acted upon. This was that the deputies might .^.^ 
sit apart from the magistrates as a separate House, thus l C G (i 
creating two Houses of Assembly, w^ith equal powers, acting 
as a check upon eacli other. The rule Avas ado^jted, to 
take effect in May, when the details of the change w^ere to 
be settled. This act was soon afterwards repealed, and the 
measure was not adopt'Od till thirty years later. The April 
King having received from the commissioners an account 
of their proceedings in New England, wrote to the colony, 
expressing his approbation of its conduct, and promising 
his continued favor and protection. - 

At the general election Governor Arnold retired from 
office. Ho had served for three years, since the adoption ^[f^ 
of the new charter, and had been for four years president 
of tlie colony under the first patent. William Brenton, 
who had been deputy governor for the past three years, 
was chosen governor, and Nicolas Easton was elected to 
fill tliat jdace. The same general officers were re-elected 
except Torrey, general recorder, who gave place to Jolm 
Sandford, bnt there was a great change in the list of As- 
sistants, only three of the former ones being retained. It ^ 
w^as the practice to admit as freemen those whose names 
were sent in for that purpose by the clerks of the respec- 
tive towns, as well as those who personally ajipeared before 
the Assembly, being duly qualified. A large number were 
thus admitted from all the towns at the oj)ening of this 
session. It was also allowed to the former Assistants, by 
law, to sit as deputies in the General Assembly, in the al)- 
sence of a full delegation, a cohtingency which now actually 
occurred, so that several of the old Assistants were sent lur 
to aid the Court. William Blackstone petitioned for re- 
lief from molestation by Plymouth in regard t(j liis lauds. 

' See AVorwick Ilecords, Oct. 8, 1064, aiul Portsmouth Ilecords Feb. 21, 
1664-5. 
. ^ Tlie letter is m K. I. Col. Roc, ii. 149. 



328 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

The petition was recorded, and answer returned that, if his 
land proved to be within this jurisdiction, justice should 

16 6 6. 1)6 secured to him. The Assembly, or Court as it was 

' ^ commonly termed, could not proceed to legislation owing 

to the absence of deputies, and after waiting two days for 

4 their appearance, adjourned till June, but for some cause 

no session was held till September. At that time, the 

'^ept. capture of Col. Cartwright by the Dutch, with the loss of 
all his papers, having been known, a new address to the 
King, and letters to Lord Clarendon were ordered. Maps 
of Plymouth, Connecticut and Khode Island were prepared 
to accompany this address, in order to show their respec- 
tive boundaries, which it was prayed might be confirmed ac- 
cording to the charter. The letter to Lord Clarendon ex- 
presses regret that no adequate return can be made by 
the colony for the many favors he has conferred upon it, 
but states that the colony had designed to set apart a 
tract of one thousand acres, suitable for a farm, and to beg 
his acceptance thereof. The present wants of the colony, 
for wliich they petition, are, that Narraganset bay should 
be fortified, that such commercial privileges be extended 
as may develoj)e the resources of the place, and that a 
portion of the fund for propagating the gospel among the 
Indians may be applied to establish a school for the Nar- 
ragansets. Enclosed in this letter was a paper setting 
forth seven reasons why the Kings Province should remain 
a part of Rhode Island, and another paper presenting also 
seven arguments why the eastern line of the colony should 
be made to conform to the terms of the charter. 

The difficulty experienced of late, owing to the non- 
attendance of deputies, who hitherto had served without 
pay, caused the passage of an act to pay all the members 
of Assembly, and of the Courts, three shillings a day, while 
employed on these duties. The per diem of the Assembly- 
men was not paid in cash, but their accounts, certified by 
the Moderator, were to be allowed in offset of taxes levied 



A SPECIAL TAX TO PAY DR. CLARKE. 329 

in tlieir respective towns. The Court fees were paid in chai'. 
cash, upon orders, signed by the governor, to the public ...^.U^ 
treasurer. In case of absence a fine of six shillings a day 16 6 6. 
was imposed. If the general sergeant, or any town, failed 
to give due attention to the summons of the governor 
calling an Assembly or a Court of Trials, a fine of five 
pounds was imposed upon the delinquent party. To hold 
a colony court of trial, the presence of the governor, or his 
deputy, and of four Assistants was required, and should 
that number not be present, every absentee was subjected 
to a similar fine of five pounds. Whoever should attempt 
to vote at any election, not being a freeman of the colony, 
was to pay a fine of five pounds, or to be otherwise punish- 
ed as the General Assembly might see fit ; and no one 
was to be admitted a freeman upon election day. 

The delay in paying the debt due to Dr. Clarke was 
likely to involve him in serious trouble. His house was 
mortgaged to Richard Dean for one hundred and forty 
pounds, advanced some years before in London, on account 
of the colony. The time for payment had long passed, and 
a foreclosure was threatened. The Assembly now assumed 
the debt. A special committee of eleven men was ap- 
pointed, with extraordinary powers, to collect the arrears 
of the six hundred pound tax levied for this object two 
years before. The town sergeant and constables of every 
town and village were placed at the disposal of the com- 
mittee, at whose order they were to assemble the people, 
and to levy by distraint, if required to do so. William 
Harris was placed at the head of this committee, who, with 
any other four of the number, were to act at their discre- 
tion and to report, the ensuing month, to the Assembly. 
They were unable fully to accomj^lish the object in so short 
a time, and were continued at the next session ; and, be- 9?''' 
cause of the difficulty of obtaining exchange on England, 
they were empowered to send an adventure to Barbadoes, 
or elsewhere, at the risk of the delinquent parties. Power 



330 niSTOEY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, was ulso giveu tlicm to collect arrears due upon other rates 

..J^;^ laid by the colony, prior to tlie one for Dr. Clarke. 

16 6 6. John Clarke was ai3pointed to make a digest of the 
laws, " leaving out what may he superfluous, and adding 
what may appear unto him necessary," and a committee 
of three was named, to examine the work when done, and 
to report at a future Assemhly. 

1G67. The next year there were very few changes made at 

l"^ the general election. Charges were brought against Wil- 
liam Harris, one, of the Assistants from Providence, for ex- 
ceeding his powers as an officer. The specific allegations 
are not eiven. The en2;a2;ement was administered to him 

O CO 

notwithstanding a motion for delay. This caused a pro- 
test to be entered upon the records by those who thought 
that the charges should be examined before he was quali- 
fied as a magistrate. 

England was now at war with France and Holland. 
Symptoms of disaffection on the part of the Indians were 
manifested. Invasion on one hand and treachery on the 
other threatened the feeble colony. Prompt measures 
were taken for defence. In each town a council of war 
was organized, consisting of tlic tovv-n council with the cap- 
tain and lieutenant of the train band. These were re- 
quired to provide ammunition to tlic value of fifty pounds 
for Newport and of twenty pounds for every other town. 
Commissions were issued by the Assembly to the military 
officers, who were required to be freemen of ihc colony. 
Cannon were mounted at Newport, and cavalry corps were 
formed in all the towns. The governor and council held 
frequent meetings between the sessions of Assembly. 
Their acts were equally binding with those of the latter 
body. The council empov/ered any magistrate to require 
assistance in case of need, and to impress men or appro- 
priate property to the public service, being responsible only 
to the General Council. The Indians upon the island were 
disarmed, and the mainland towns were advised to adopt 



18. 



TREPARATIONS AGAINST THE INDIANS. 331 

the same measure, A few days later all male Indians, 
over sixteen years of age, were sent off tlie island, and no 
Englishman, above that age, was permitted to leave with- 
out a passport, or to go on hoard of any vessel that might 
approach the island, until her captain had reported him- 
self to the chief magistrate of the town. All ammunition ^■^• 
in private hands was required to he given up for the pub- 
lic use. A committee was appointed to examine and re- 
pair all arms belonging to the citizens. A special tax of 
one hundred and fifty pounds was levied in Newport for 
defence. Letters having been received from Plymouth 
concerning a suspected conspiracy by King Phdip, a com- 
mittee was appointed to treat with the Narraganset Sa- 21. 
cliems on the subject, and a letter v/as sent to them re- 
quiring their presence on a certain day at Warwick. The 
Assembly confirmed the acts of the council, and established 
a series of beacons, where signal fires should be lighted in 
case of attack, to spread the alarm without delay over all 
the colony. The principal beacon was on Wonemyton- 
omi hill, whence the alarm could be spread along the whole 
coast by bale-fires on the rocks at Sachuest, at Pettaquam- 
scot, and on Watch hill, and northward on Windmill hill, 
the highest point of the island, and thence to Mooshausuck, 
now Prospect hill, in Providence ; and a general system 
of defence was adopted for all the islands and exposed set- 
tlements in the colony and in Kings Province. These 
were the preliminary steps taken in view of a crisis which 
proved to be still quite remote. 

Internal dissensions supplied the excitement that hos- ji,ne 
tile demonstrations failed to bring. At the animal town ■^• 
meeting in Providence two sets of town ofiicers were elected, 
and two sets of delegates chosen to the Assembly, at two 
separate meetings called by the Assistants resident in the 
town, at the same time and place ; one by Arthur Fenner^ 
the other by William Harris in concert with William Car- 
penter, another Assistant. It was the duty of one of the 



332 HLSTOEY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP. Assistants to call town meetings, but of which one, in this 
^^^^ case, does not appear, nor is it known why two calls were 
1 G G 7. issued ; hut it is supposed to he owing to a sharp contro- 
versy then existing upon local questions relating to the 
town limits. The result was unfortunate in creating a 
hitter feeling that it required many years to assuage. A 
narrative of the affair, entitled " The Firebrand Discov- 
ered " was drawn up, by vote of the town, and sent to the 
other three towns. This presents the view of the Fenner 
faction. The other side entered a complaint to the Gov- 
ernor against Fenner, which led to a special session of the 
J,,],. Assembly at which both sets of deputies appeared. The 
-• seats were awarded to the Fenner party. The complaint 
of Harris against Fenner, charging the latter with " acting 
in a route " upon town meeting day, was then examined, 
and Fenner with his deputies were acquitted. The town 
officers elected l^y the Fenner meeting were pronounced 
to be the legally chosen officers for the year. A letter 
was sent to Providence stating the action of the Assembly 
with the reasons thereof. Harris having upon insufficient 
grounds caused this session to be held, expressly for the 
trial of Fenner, was fined fifty pounds, and for other more 
serious reasons was expelled from the office of Assistant, 
two of his colleagues protesting, and another was chosen 
in his place. The fine was remitted the next year by 
advice of Col. Nichols, governor of New York, to whom 
Harris had complained. To prevent similar vexatious 
suits in future, an act was passed that no Assistant should 
indict any person, for matters pertaining to another's in- 
terest, without the sworn evidence of two witnesses under 
the hand of another Assistant, whose names should be en- 
dorsed on the bill of indictment. 

The first troop of horse organized in Khode Island re- 
'\o° ported for duty at Nevv'port in August, and was commis- 
sioned by the governor and council. It numbered twenty- 



WESTERLY RETALIATES UPON STONINGTON, 333 

oue men well mounted and equipped.' The Assembly con- 
tinued to tlie towns, till further notice, the full military 
powers before conferred on them. The strife about the 
Narraganset country still continued. The mode in which 
Rhode Island had run her western line, beyond the Paw- 
catuck river, caused great dissatisfaction, and many depo- 
sitions on that subject were given by the people of South- 
ertown, or Stonington as it was now called.- Hermon Gar- 
ret, the English name of Wequashcooke, who had been 
made chief of the Pequots by the United Colonies, renewed 
the complaints formerly made by the Indians against the 
Westerly settlers, who had driven them across the river, 
and sought relief from Connecticut, The deputies from 
Stonington also complained of intrusions on the west side 
of the river, committed by John Crandall, who had laid 
out a mile square of land for his son within the limits of 
their town-^* These acts on the part of Ehode Island were 
unjustifiable. They proceeded no doubt from a spirit of 
retahation in the minds of those who had formerly suffered 
so much from the men of Southertown. The Assembly at 
Hartford ordered notice of these encroachments to be given lo. 
to Rhode Island with a request that they be discontinued, 
and should this not suffice then the constable was required 
to arrest the intruders. A letter to this effect was sent to 17. 
Grovernor Brcnton. 

Massachusetts, although her claims had been super- 
seded by those of Connecticut, and her right to interfere, 
even with the Indians had been denied by the royal com- 
missioners, embraced an opportunity presented by the 

' Tlieir names, from the Council recoi-Js, are given in R. I. Col. Rec, ii. 
218. 

^ Southertown was incorporated by Massachusetts Oct. 19th, 1658. The 
name was changed to Mistick by the Connecticut Assembly Oct. I2th, 1065, 
and then to Stonington, and bounded by the Pawcatuck river, May 10th, 
16G6. Conn. Col. Rec, ii. 26, 36. 

^ Garret's petition was dated May Gth, that of the deputies was presented 
Oct. 10th. Conn. Col. Rec, ii. 80. 



334 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP. Nipmucks, who acknowledged lier supremacy, to impose 
_1:'^__ terms on the Narragansets, The Nipmucks petitioned 
1 6 67. for redress for spoliations committed by the Narragansets. 
;jl ■ The General Conrt took up the matter, as of right, and 
settled the difficulty. It was a measure of peace and 
therefore commendable, but it does not admit of ri2;id 
scrutiny into the claim of jurisdiction over the Nipmuck 
country upon which the interference was based.' A corres- 
pondence was carried on between various parties in Khode 
-^°'^"- Island, and Col, Nichols, Governor of New York, as the 
head of the late royal commission. His replies were made 
in a private caj)acity, his power as a commissioner having, 
in his opinion, ceased, 
1G68, An urgent petition was presented by the town of 

^4 Stonington to the Assembly at Hartford for protection 
against Khode Island,- and on the same day the people of 
Wickford also petitioned to be again received under the 
jurisdiction of Connecticut. 
(J The general election made but little change in the of- 

ficers, and is only remarkable for the triumph of the Har- 
ris party ; William Harris, notwithstanding his expulsion, 
being again chosen an Assistant, and the other two As- 
sistants from Providence being of his faction, while Fenner 
himself was dropped. This is the more singular as tliere 
is evidence that Harris at this time had, or was about to, 
become the agent of Connecticut in prosecuting her claim 
against Rhode Island. A very long document from his 
pen is 2'reserved in the archives of Connecticut, arguing 
against the Assembly's ajjportionment of the taxes for the 
payment of Dr. Clarke, on the su}»}»()sed ground of the 
rightful jurisdiction of Connecticut in the Narraganset 
country.^ But the governor refused to administer the 
eDgagement until Harris sliould clear himself from an in- 

' M. C. E., vol. iv. Part ii. p. 357-9. 
- Conn. Col. Rec, ii. 530. 

= This was filed Oct. 1G6G. A copy is in R. I. Hist. See, MSS. vol. of 
Conn, papers, p. -tO-G7. 



CONFLICTING CLAIBIS TO NARRAGANSET, 335 

dictment brought against liim for charging the Court of chap. 
Trials with injustice. The deputy Governor Avas less 
scrupulous ; hy him Harris was duly qualified, and a cer- 
tificate sent as usual to the towns. The town of Warwick 
protested against this act as being irregular, and refused 
to acknowledge him as a legal officer.' The town of Prov- 
idence sent a bitter remonstrance to the Governor and 
council against the election of Harris and his colleagues, 
but no notice was taken of it.~ 

Connecticut appointed agents to treat with Rhode 
Island upon the foregoing complaints, who were instruct- 
ed to require the withdrawal of intruders, to assert the 
jurisdiction of Connecticut according to her charter, and 
to demand a written reply. These propositions were sub- 
mitted to the council at Newport, who replied to Gov- *''• 
ernor Winthrop, referring to the decision of the Royal 
Commissioners, and to the Pawcatuck River clause in 20? 
the charter, but saying that if any violations of those 
terms had been committed, justice would be rendered 
upon due course of law. 

Massachusetts again interfered in the affairs of Narra- Sept. 
ganset, by sending messengers to request the sachems to ■^^ 
appear at the General Court to answer complaints made 
against them by the Narraganset purchasers. The Wick- 
ford men renewed their petition of May, to have the gov- s. 
ernment of Connecticut extended over them. The Hartford 
assembly desired advice from Col. Nichols on this matter. 
They also notified Rhode Island to send commissioners to 
meet a committee appointed by them to adjust differ- 
ences at New London.^ This notice was not received till 
after the Assembly had adjourned, and hence could not be 
acted upon before the next spring. The Wickford peti- 

' See Warwick records, June 1, 1G68. 

- It is dated 31st Augiist, 1668, and is found in Staples' Aunals, 147-50. 
=> Conn. Col. Ren., ii. 102, 103, 532— also R. I. Col. Rcc, ii. 225-30, 
.lierc most of the foregoing papers are printed. 



336 HISTORY OF TEE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, tion was referred to England, and Mr. Willys, and Kobert 
_^^ Thompson of London, were appointed to present tlie sul)- 
16 68. ject for tlie decision of his Majesty, hut nothing decisive 
was effected. 
2<)_ The General Assembly remitted the fine of fifty 

pounds imposed upon William Harris the previous year. 
Upon Wniiam Blackstone's petition, John Clarke was re- 
quested to write to Plymouth, warning that colony not to 
molest him in the quiet j^ossession of his lands. A large 
number of freemen were admitted. The Assembly ad- 
journed until March, to give place to the Court of Trials. 
1CG8-9. Up to this time, it w^as usual for any party who was 

March ji^^^iicted to plead his own cause before the courts, but as 
this required more wisdom, or knowledge of the law, than 
every man possessed, the Assembly now enacted that any 
person who v\'as indicted might employ an attorney to 
plead in his behalf, a,nd further, that a pending indict- 
ment should not prevent any general officer, fairly elected, 
from holding his office ; but that he should nevertheless 
be subject to trial. This statute seems to be intended to 
meet the objections brought against William Harris by 
the town of Warwick. A sharp controversy existed be- 
tween that town and the Assistants of Newport, wdio sus- 
tained Harris in the vigorous measures he had adopted, 
as chief of the committee for collecting the famous tax of 
25. six hundred pounds, levied in 1664. At a town meeting, 
held to hear a letter from the Newport Assistants on this 
subject, action was taken that deserves a place among the 
curiosities of legislation. ' 

' "Voted: Upon tlie reading of a letter directed to 'Mr. Edmund Calver- 
ley and IMi-. John Greene and the rest of that faction,' &c., desiring to be 
communicated to the honest inhaLitauts of Warwick town, subscribed John 
Cranston, to the end of the chapter, dated the 20th January, IG68, and find- 
ing the same doth not answer the town's letter to that part of tlie committee, 
t&c, who reside at Newport, touching the rate ; but is full of uncivil lan- 
guage, as if it had been indicted in hell ; Therefore the town unanimously do 
coudemn the same, and think it not fit to be put amongst the records of the 



WESTERLY INCORPORATED. 337 

The General Assembly met on Tuesday, a recent chap. 
law requiring them to meet the clay before election, that ..J^ 
a full attendance might prevent delay in the choice of 1 G <"> '•• 
officers. Benedict Arnold was again made governor, and 5" 
John Clarke was chosen deputy governor. There was 
but little change among the other general officers. The 
Harris party again prevailed in the choice of the three 
Assistants from Providence ; William Hanis himself be- 
ing, as before, one of the number. On Saturday they ad- 
journed for the Court of Trials, and met again the fol- 
lowing Friday, when the letter from Connecticut of the 14. 
previous October, was read, and a reply was sent, apologiz- 
ing for the delay, and accepting the proposal to send com- 
missioners to New London. The letter was forwarded by 
a special messenger, whose expenses, as also were those 
of the committee named in the letter, were paid by volun- 
tary contribution on the spot. The sums thus raised 
were to be deducted from the amount of the next tax. 
Misquamicut, as it had heretofore been called, was now 
incorporated as the fifth town in the colony, and named 
Westerly. Two deputies were allowed to it, and the 

town, but do order that the chirke put it on a file where impertinent papers 
shall be kept for the future ; to the end that those persons who have not 
learned in the school of good manners how to speak to men in the language 
of sobriety (if they be sought for) may be there found." Warwick records, 
March 25th, 1669, (New Year's day, 0. S.) We doubt if the idea of an " im- 
pertinent file " ever entered the minds of any other people, or if anywhere 
else in the arrangement of State Papers, so expressive, yet so convenient, a 
classification was ever employed. Wc have already referred to one document, 
" the pernitious letter " of Roger Williams, which probably served as the foun- 
dation stone for this remarkable structure. The notion of keeping a sepa- 
rate file for disagreeable communications was not started till this second let- 
tei", "indicted in hell," was received. This was not the last of the kind, as 
we shall presently see, and the character of the documents consigned to this 
significant receptacle, seems to have grown worse and worse as the collection 
increased. It is much to be regretted that the " impertinent file," or as it 
was afterwards termed more energetically, the " damned file," has disappeared, 
with many other of the records of this ancient town, for it would no doubt 
furnish materials that would amply justify the votes of the townsmen. 

VOL. 1—22 



338 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, usual courts for the trial of small causes, were tliere or- 
.^^^ ganized, Joliii Clarke was .desired to write to Providence 
16 6 9. to persuade tlie people to settle the quarrels there ex- 
'll" istiiig. At the same time a measure was adopted that 
produced a contrary effect in Warwick. Execution was 
granted to William Harris against Edmund Calverly, and 
John Harrod of Warwick, unless the litigants should at 
once come to a mutual agreement, in the case of a land 
dispute of long standing hetwcen them, upon which Har- 
ris had recovered judgment in the courts. Against this 
act, John Greene, Assistant, and the deputies from War- 
wick, of whom Calveiiey himself was one, protested, and 
desired to have their protest entered, but were refused, al- 
though the fee was tendered for that ])urpose to the re- 
corder. The town took up the matter in public meeting, 
refused to assist in serving the execution, and entered the 
protest upon their records in full, with the grounds of 
their action.' 
o^ The council a23pointed six additional justices of the 

peace in Kings Province, one of whom was Eichard 
Smith, the earliest settler in Narraganset, and who had 
formerly given so much trouble in connection with the 
Atlierton Company. In the commissions issued to these 
justices, the bounds of Kings Province arc accurately de- 
fined. They embraced all of the present State west of the 
bay, south of the latitude of Warwick, being the south 
half of Kent and the whole of AVashington counties. 
Monthly meetings of the council were established, but 
the posture of affairs caused them to be held much oftener 
July at this time. Governor Lovelace, who had succeeded 
''^' Col. Nichols at New York, wrote to Eliode Island con- 
cerning a plot against the English, supposed to be form- 
ing between the Long Island Indians and Ninecraft, sa- 
y cheni of the Narragansets. The governor and council of 
Connecticut also wrote on the same subject. The coun- 

' See AVarwick records, June 7th, I()G9. 



EXAMINATION OF NINECRAFT. 339 

cil met at once, and sent some discreet persons to Narra- ctiap. 
ganset to inquire into these complaints. They found ^^ 
some emissaries from Philip of Mount Hope at the camp 16 6 9. 
of the sachem, which confirmed their suspicions. On '20,'^ 
their return the Council issued a warrant to apprehend 
Ninecraft and bring him before them. A violent storm, 
that lasted two days, preventing the immediate service of 
the writ, it was renewed, and a letter was at the same ^'^" 
time written to Plymouth, advising that colony to ques- 
tion King Philip on the subject. Ninecraft appeared be- 
fore the Council and sustained a long examination. He os. 
declared his innocence of the charge of conspiracy, and 
explained many suspicious circumstances that were 
brought against hi in, but his answers not being in all re- 
spects satisfactory, he was dismissed upon his promise to 
appear again if sent for. Letters were sent to Connecti- " ' 
cut and to New York, giving details of the examination, 
and desiring that any evidence in their possession against 
Ninecraft might be forwarded in season for his next ap- 
pearance before the Council. A broil between some 
English and Indians soon occasioned another meeting of is. 
the Council. Summons were sent to Ninecraft and Maw- 
sup, another sachem, to appear before them. The Coun- 19. 
cil recommended the five towns to take speedy measures 
for defence, and also required the justices to assemble all 
the people of the villages for consultation on the same 
subject. The two sachems appeared, with the ringleader 
in the recent broil, who was bound over for trial. Four 27. 
Long Island Indians accompanied Ninecraft. They were 
examined at length, and so clearly explained what had 28. 
caused the rumors of a plot, that the whole were dis- 
charged, and the excitement soon passed away. 

The Commissioners of tlie United Colonies took up Sj'pt. 
the complaints of the people of Stonington, denounced 
Rhode Island, and advised that the General Court of Con- 
necticut should demand satisfaction, and if refused, tliat 



26. 



340 HISTOEY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, notice should be given to the several colonies, and their 
,^J^' advice asked upon the mode of seeking redress. The 
16G9. New England league exercised less influence than for- 
merly. It had become essentially weak, and a proposal 
Oct. to revise the terms of union was submitted at this time, 
but although it was approved and acted upon, nothing de- 
cisive resulted.^ In a few years the confederacy expired 
by default, and Kliode Island was thus relieved from what 
had often been to her a source of oppression, and had al- 
ways given her great annoyance. 

So far from an amicable settlement with Harrod, as 
desired hj the Assembly, Harris, the repeated verdicts in 
whose favor entitled him to the final process of the law, 
wrote to him a letter, wherein he so abused the peojtle of 
Warwick that it was made the occasion for a town meet- 
4. ing. An address was prepared to be presented to the 
Assembly, condemning the conduct of Harris as danger- 
ous to the existence of the colony. The address was read 
18. at the next town meeting ; and the feeling of the town 
was expressed in a vote too plainly to be mistaken. - The 
27. letter was read in the General Assembly, and the parties 
to the lawsuit were earnestly entreated to settle their dif- 
ferences by arl)itration, but in vain. 

The f|uarrel at Providence was renewed v\dth fresh vir- 
ulence. Certificates from two town clerks, claiming to be 
legally chosen, were presented, one of which declared that 
there had been no election of deputies, and the other cer- 

'■ Hazard's State papers, ii. 

- " Voted, That the letter prepared by tlie tovai council touching William 
Harris shall be read, which was done accordingly, and ordered to be signed 
by the town dark in the name of the town, and by the deputies to be deliv- 
ered to the next General Assembly, by a unanimous consent ; and that the 
town dark do put the paper of William Harris, that occasioned the letter, 
iivon the dam — Ji1<- amongst those papers of that nature." "Warwick records, 
18th Oct., lOG'.i. It will be seen by this that the remarkable file, referred to 
in the note a few pages back, was rapidly increasing in size, and becoming 
more intense in its character. 



INTEKNAL TROUBLES. 341 

tifying to the election of the four deputies who chiimed chap. 
their seats under it. They were rejected, so that Provi- ^J^^ 
dence was unrepresented at this session. This deplorable 1 6 9. 
feud caused the Assembly to appoint a special committee 
of five to go to Providence, and call a meeting of the 
townsmen, to endeavor to persuade them to refer the sub- 
jects of dispute to the decision of disinterested parties. 
If this was agreed to, they were then to call a town meet- 
ing to elect officers and deputies ; meanwhile all actions 
at law growing out of this quarrel were to be suspended 
till another meeting of the Assembly. The six hundred 
pound tax, the real cause of much of the disaffection now 
existing in the impoverished colony, was not yet all col- 
lected. The powers of the committee were renewed, and 
the sergeant was ordered to distrain at their bidding. 
Warwick prepared to resist this act, and warned Harris Nov. 
not to enter the town without leave. 

The Council of Connecticut wrote to the men of Wes- ^g 
terly to require them to give satisfaction for injuries in- 
flicted, not only upon those of Stonington, but also upon 
the heirs of the Atherton company, saying that time 
would 1)0 allowed them till the next March to arrange 
these matters. No notice was taken of this missive till igco-to. 
the time had expired, when an answer was returned, re- ^''^^ 
ferring to the injuries formerly received by them from the 
Stonington men, and stating that if Connecticut had any 
complaints to make, the Courts of Rhode Island would do 
justice to the litigants. 

An extra session of tlie Assembly was called in conse- 22. 
quence of internal, as well as of external troubles. Four 
men ^ were appointed to go to Providence, two of whom 
were empowered to make a list of the freemen, and to call 
a meeting of all such to elect officers and dej^uties, and 
to forbid any others trom voting under peril of arrest as 

' John Easton and Joslma Coggesliall, with Lott Strange and Joseph Tor- 
rev added for counsel. 



25 



4. 



10. 



342 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, rioters. All names, titles and passages in the laws de- 
_i^ rogatory to tlie King, wliicli under the various govern- 
1 G 7 0. ments i )rior to the restoration had hcen used, were for- 
mally repealed ; hut the laws in which they occurred were 
to be retained in full force. This was simply carrying 
out, more fully than had yet been done, the recommenda- 
tion of the royal Commissioners on that point. A sjie- 
cial commission was issued to the justices of Kings Prov- 
ince to arrest any person pretending authority from Con- 
necticut, or elsewhere, who should presume to exercise 
jurisdiction in that province. 
AjM-il The Providence committee performed their duties by 

calling a town meeting, at which officers, selected from 
both the Contending parties, were legally chosen. Affairs 
1^^ at Warwick proceeded less quietly. Writs were served 
upon the town clerk and upon Samuel Gorton, sen., and 
John Wickcs, sen., two of the town Council, at the suit 
of the Attorney General, for debts due to the colony by 
the town on account of the old tax of 1664, and they 
2s. were imprisoned. The town protested against this act as 
repugnant to the laws of England, and agreed to stand 
by their officers and each other in resisting it, in a paper 
entered upon their records and signed by nearly all the 
freemen. This difficulty was soon after settled. 
'^/[r^J At the general election the same officers were chosen, 

but John Clarke declining to serve again as Deputy Gov- 
ernor, Nicolas Easton was chosen in his place. In the 
choice of second Assistant from Providence, there being- 
some doubt which of the rival candidates, William Har- 
ris or Arthur Fenner was elected, and neither being willr 
ing to serve under these circumstances, Koger Williams 
was chosen to that office. A committee was appointed, 
upon petition from Block Island, to obtain contributions 
for making a harbor there. 

The Connecticut Assembly appointed a committee to 
meet such as Rhode Island might authorize, to treat on 



1-.'. 



THE KINGS PROVINCE DISPUTE. 343 

the question of boundary at New Loudon, witli full pow- chap. 
ers to settle all disputes, and also in case Rhode Island _;,j^ 
refused to treat, to reduce the people of Westerly and 16 7 0. 
Narraganset to submission. A letter to that effect was 
sent to Gov. Arnold. The people of Stonington renewed 13, 
their former petition for redress. Gov. Winthrop now 
took that manly stand, against the popular clamor, which 
his own high sense of j)ersonal honor and of public right 
dictated. In a formal message to his Legislature he dis- 17. 
sented from the extreme course they had decided to adopt, 
and refused, upon the ground of his agreement with Dr. 
Clarke, to exercise jurisdiction east of the Pawcatuck 
river until his Majesty's pleasure was further known, or 
till the question should be settled by treaty. The Gov- 
ernor and Council of Rhode Island replied to the Con- 23. 
necticut letter, deprecating the threats it contained, ex- 
pressing a desire for peace, and agreeing to the j)roposal 
to send Commissioners to New London. A special ses- June 
sion of the Assembly was called to appoint them. John ' " 
Greene, Assistant, Joseph Torrey, Recorder, and Richard 
Bailey, Clerk of the Council, were empowered to treat on 
the part of Rhode Island. Their instructions gave them 
full powers, within the terms of the charter, and of the 
decree of the royal Commissioners, The two committees 
met at New London. The negotiations were conducted j^ 
entirely in writing, at the suggestion of the Rhode Island to 
men. They occupied three days, and embrace seventeen 
letters. Connecticut claimed jurisdiction over Kings 
Province by her charter. Rhode Island replied that that 
only could mean Narraganset river, in the charter, which 
was therein expressly dcscjibed to be such. This was the 
substance of the whole correspondence, which closed by 
an assurance on the part of Rhode Island, that if Con- 
necticut should attempt to usurp the government of 
Kings Province she would appeal to the King. Thus 
ended this fruitless effort at conciliation. The Connecti- 



344 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND, 

CHAP, cut men, tlie same evening, read a declaration of their 
^"^ intention to establish a government at Westerly, and 
167 0. Wickford, in his Majesty's name. The next day they 
'ij went to Stonington and formally proclaimed the author- 
ity of Connecticut over the people of Westerly, and sum- 
moned them, as being a part of tiie township of Stouing- 
ton, to submit thereunto. They also issued a warrant to 
Jolm Frincke to warn the inhabitants east of Pawcatuck 
river to appear the same day at Captain Gookin's house, 
in Stonington, to hear the proclamation, but they failing 
to obey the summons the paper was publicly read on Groo- 
kin's land. That night Frincke and two of his aids were 
arrested and sent to Newport jail, by James Babcock, 
sen., a Rhode Island offtcer, under a w^arrant issued by 
Tobias Saunders of Westerly. Saunders and Babcock 

1^ were in turn arrested and brought before tlie Comnris- 
sioners, to answer for the seizure of Frincke. They ad- 
mitted the charge, defending it by virtue of their com- 
missions as Rhode Island oflicers, and were discharged on 

J,, bail. The next day news of these occurrences reaching 
Newport the Council was called together. A commission 

-"• was issued to certain officers to proceed to Narraganset, 
there to forbid any one usurping government under au- 
thority from Connecticut, and to bring any such as pris- 
oners to Newport, or in case of resistance, to read pub- 
licly the prohibition, and then to deliver it to the offend- 
ing parties. The Connecticut Commissioners, with a 
force of fifty mounted men, went to Wickford on that 
day, proclaimed their government and read their charter. 
They then sent messengers to Peta(piamscut, who were 

oj seized on the road, but were afterward delivered up on re- 
quisition. At this juncture the four men ' sent by the 
Council at Newport reached Wickford, bringing the pris- 
oner Frincke with them, and delivered their letter to the 
Connecticut officers. It was immediately answered in a 

' Joseph Torrey, Richard Bailey. James Barker and Caleb Carr. 



THE KINGS PROVINCE DISPUTE. 345 

tone corresponding to the policy that Connecticut was chap. 
now engaged, with a high hand, in carrying out. Har- ._!^ 
vard college had received a grant of five hundred acres of 1 6 7o. 
land in Southertown, at the time of the annexation by 
Massachusetts, and now petitioned Connecticut for relief 21, 
against the people of Westerly. A similar proclamation 
to that at Stonington was set up at Wiclcford, nailed on -^• 
the door of Captain Hudson's house, and local officers 
were appointed to administer the government in hehalf 
of Connecticut. The like declaration was also made at 
Petaquamscut. The next day they went to Stonington 
and issued another proclamation, warning the Ehode Isl- 
and officers not to exercise authority in Westerly, and 
enjoining upon the people of that town obedience to the 
magistrates, named in the paper, appointed by Connecti- 
cut. They also gave them liberty to use the County 
Court at New London for justice when required. Upon 
these bold proceedings being known, the Council of Ehode 
Island called a special • session of the General Assembly 04. 
to meet at Warwick on the following Wednesday. This 
was the first session under the new charter that had been 
held at any other place than Newport. The proximity 
of Warwick to the scene of disturbance doubtless occa- 
sioned this deviation from what had now become a settled 
usage. The charter named Newport as the place for the 
Assembly, but permitted it to be held " elsewhere, if ur- 
gent occasion doe require." The Assembly appointed ,,„ 
Governor Arnold, as the agent of the colony, to proceed 
to England, there to defend the charter against the in- 
vasions of Connecticut ; or if he could not go, then Dr. 
John Clarke, who had obtained the charter, was appoint- 
ed, with Capt. John Greene, Assistant, of Warwick, as 
joint agents for this object. The Governor was requested 
to write to Connecticut and the other colonies, as also to 
New York, on the same subject. 

A debt of eighty pounds still due to Kichard Dean 



346 HISTOKY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, for services in obtaining the charter, was paid hj a loan 
^J.^^ from jjrivate individuals to tlie colony, and a tax of three 
1 G V 0. hundred pounds was levied to meet the expenses of the 
new agency. Of this tax Newport was assessed one 
hundred and twenty-three j^ounds. Providence and Ports- 
mouth fiftj^-one each, Warwick thirty-two, Petaquamscot 
sixteen, Block Island fifteen, and Oonanicut twelve 
pounds. The most favorable result of this Assembly was 
that it quieted the feeling of discontent, so rife in War- 
wick for six years past, if we may judge from the readi- 

2. ness with which the town now voted their portion of the 
new tax and of the arrears still due on the old one. 

11. Gov, Arnold wrote a long and friendly letter to Gov. 

Winthrop, informing him of the preparations of the As- 
sembly to appeal to the King in the autumn, attributing 
the conduct of Connecticut to the influence of men ac- 
tuated by private interests, and also asking the surrender 
of a fugitive from Khode Island, who had twice broken 
jail and was now harbored at Stonington.' The murder 
of Walter House by Thomas Flounders at AVickford, an 

12 iict of private revenge, now served still further to compli- 
cate the difficulties between the two colonies. The Con- 
necticut coroner held an inquest on the body. When the 

^^'- Rhode Island coroner came for that purpose he was de- 
nied access to the corpse. He forbade the burial, which 
however was performed. The Council at Newport or- 
dered the body to be disinterred, that a legal inquest 
might be lield, and sent a constable, with sufficient force, 
to arrest the murderer, and also those who had obstructed 
the coroner, as well as any who might attempt to prevent 
the execution of this order. Thomas Stanton, one of the 

, , newly appointed magistrates at Stonington, wrote to Con- 
necticut wliat had been done in the premises. The mur- 

^ Tliis letter of July lltli, with all the papers relating to the acts of Con- 
necticut, and of the joint commission from May r2th, are printed in E. I. 
Col. Kec, ii. 309-328, presenting a complete documentary liistory of this im- 
portant period. 



THE KINGS PKOVINCE DISPUTE. 347 

derer was arrested on tlio Eliode Island warrant and taken chap. 
to Newport. Samuel Eldredge and John Cole, two of ^^ 
the Connecticut officers at Wickford, who had obstructed 1670. 
those of Rhode Island, were also taken prisoners. Floun- jV 
ders was indicted for murder, and afterwards, in October, 
was tried and executed. The two officers were commit- 
ted to the custody of the Sergeant till they should give 
bail to appear at the October Com-t. The Council of 
Connecticut appointed another constable at Wickford in 21 
place of Eldredge, and issued warrants to arrest Samuel 
Wilson and Thomas Mumford, the Rhode Island officers 
who had torn down the declaration of authority that had 
been set up by the Commissioners at Hudson's house. 
They also wrote a letter to Rhode Island, complaining of 
the zeal with which she strove to maintain her rights over 
the Kings Province. 

That the people of Connecticut were not unanimous 
in their approval of the conduct of their authorities in 
such high-handed proceedings, but that these were insti- 
gated, as Gov. Arnold intimates in his letter to Gov. 
Winthrop, by parties having private interests to subserve, 
appears, not only by the refusal of Winthrop to exercise 
jurisdiction, as Governor, east of Pawcatuck river, but 
also in a letter from Major John Mason of Norwich, to Aug. 
the Connecticut Commissioners, enclosing that celebrated • 

letter, recently received by him from Roger Williams, 
which contains so lucid a sketch of the early history of 
Rhode Island.^ Mason, in this communication, depre- 
cates the action of the Commissioners in Narraganset as 
unwise, and describes the territory to be gained as of 
doubtful value compared with the cost of contesting it, 
and significantly suggests that " the toll may prove to be 
more than the grist." 

The General Assemblies of Connecticut and of Rhode ^^^g^- 

' This important letter is printed at length in 1 M. II. C. i. 275-283, and 
in part iu R. I. II. C, iii. 15'J-1(5?.. 



348 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

Island met on tlie same day, one at Hartford, the other 
at Newport. The Connecticut Commissioners reported 
their jn-oceedings at Narraganset, which were approved, 
and the officers named by them in Kings Province were 
confirmed. The former bounds of Southertown, as incor- 
2iorated by Massachusetts, were granted to Stonington, 
which inchided the whole of Westerly. A new set of 
Commissioners, including one of the former body, were 
appointed to treat once more with Rhode Island on the 
questions at issue, and were invested with' the same pow- 
ers that their predecessors had received. Governor AVin- 
throp sent in his resignation to this Court, but it was not 
accejjted. The })Osture of afiairs in Rhode Island is sup- 
posed to have influenced him in this step, as he had pre- 
viously refused to violate his agreement with Clarke, and 
to trample on the rights of Rhode Island. 

The Assembly at Newport issued new summons to the 
witnesses at Wichford to attend at the trial of Flounders, 
the former ones having been seized by a Connecticut offi- 
cer before they could be served. A conciliatory letter 
15. was sent by two messengers to Connecticut, desiring that 
an easier mode of settling the dift'erences than by appeal 
to England might be devised, and relying upon the tem- 
perate spirit of Gov. Winthrop's letter, it suggests a new 
commission, and that Connecticut meanwhile should forbear 
to exercise jurisdiction in the King's Province. To this 
overture Connecticut replied, approving tlie acts of her 
Commissioners in June, dissenting from the points of 
Gov. Arnold's letter of July, and accepting the proposal 
of a new treaty, but declining the proviso upon which the 
ofier was made, that Connecticut should in the interval 
suspend the exercise of authority in Narraganset. This 
of course put an end to further negotiation, and Rhode 
Island resumed her prepariitions for a final appeal to the 
King. A special session of the Assembly was held, at 
wliich it was ordered that such persons as were qualified 



IK, 



V 20 



1/ 



VALUES OF MONEY AND PRODUCE. 349 

for public service in holding offices, should he made free- 
men by their res23ective towns, whether they desired it or 
not. This was a compulsory act, akin to that which im- 
posed a fine on any one elected to office who should refuse 
to serve, and presents a striking contrast to the spirit of 
later years on this subject. Summary means were adopted 
to collect the taxes levied for the purpose of sending 
agents to England. If not paid within two months the 
process of distraint was to be employed. The details of 
the act acquaint us with the market values of the chief 
articles of produce at that time. Pork was three pence, 
or two-and-a-quarter cents a pound ; butter, six pence ; 
wool, one shilling ; peas, three shillings and six pence a 
bushel ; wheat, five shillings ; Indian corn, three shil- 
lings ; oats, two shillings and three pence. A penny at 
that time was equal to a fraction less than three-quarters 
of a cent at the present day, and one shilling was about 
eight and one-quarter of our cents. Forty shillings of 
New England currency was then equal to thirty shillings 
sterling. For those who paid in silver coin of New Eng- 
land, one- sliilling was taken for two shillings in produce 
at the above rates. 

By English statute the estate of a felon was forfeited. 
The murderer, Flounders, having been executed, the As- 
sembly restored to his widow the residue of his propei'ty, 
after deducting the expenses of his trial, as an act of 
mercy. Continued acts of violence on the part of Con- 
necticut again led to an extra session of the General As- April 
sembly, the sole purpose of which was to j)ass an act con- -• 
fiscating the estates of those who presumed to exercise 
authority in Kings Province without a commission from 
Rhode Island, and also of those inhabitants of Westerly 
who should place their lands under the control of Con- 
necticut ; while the faith of the colony was pledged to 
make good any loss sustained by those who remained 
faithful. 



1G71. 



350 HISTOKY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP. Tlie alarm of Indian war acrain aronsed the colonies. 

TV • 

.^^ Grov. I'rince wrote to Rhode Island concerning the suspi- 
1G71. cious attitude of Philip of Pokanoket. A council was 
ll_ called to reply to the letter, and a conference, to be held 
at Taunton, was proposed, but for the present was post- 
poned. 
jNIay The regular session of Assembly was held the day be- 

fore the election, for the admission of freemen. At the 
o election John Clarke, who had been Deputy Grovernor the 
previous year but had declined office the jiast year, was 
again chosen to that place. Another outrage occurred at 
Westerly. Two of the Connecticut constables, while lay- 
ing out lands east of Pawcatuck river, were driven off by 
the Rhode Island ofhcers, one of whom, John Crandall, 
was afterwards seized and taken to New London for trial. 
He applied to this Asseml)ly for advice whether to give 
bonds or to go to prison. They advised him to give no 
bond in any matter pertaining to his acts performed in 
maintaining his Majesty's authority in the colony, and as- 
sured him of j)rotection. This violence drew forth another 
letter to Connecticut, again tendering an appeal to the 
King as the only remaining solution of the difficulty. 
II The Hartford Assembly replied, reiterating their claim, 
Ijut taking no notice of the proposed appeal ; to avoid 
which, if possible, they appointed another set of Com- 
missioners to open a new treaty with Rhode Island. The 
General Assembly appointed meetings of the Court of 
Justices, that had been clothed by the royal Commission- 
ers with the exclusive jurisdiction of Kings Province, to 
be held at Westerly and other places, to examine the af- 
fairs of the province, and to restore quiet to its inhabit- 
ants. They accordingly mot at Westerly, the Deputy 
Governor, John Clarke, presiding, and directed the Con- 
stable, James Babcock, to summon the people to attend 
on the morrow. Babcock refused to obey, and was ar- 
17. rested by order of the Court. Another officer warned the 



AUTHORITY OVER KINGS FROVINCE SECURED. 351 

people to assemble, when the charter, the royal comrais- chap. 

sion of the Justices, the agreement between Clarke and :^ 

Winthrop and other pertinent jDapers were read. The 1G71. 
meeting was disturbed by the intrusion of a mounted 
force from Stonington, who asserted the authority of Con- 
necticut, and ordered the Court to desist, but no collision 
ensued. A written protest was delivered to the intruders, 
maintainino; the authority of Rhode Island. The free- 
men were then examined as to their fidelity, and nearly 
all agreed to stand by the King and this colony. A dec- 
laration was issued by the Court, wherein John Crandall 18- 
and Tobias Sanders were confirmed as Justices, and the 
reciprocal engagement of the colony to protect the peoj)le 
of Westerly was affirmed. The Court then proceeded to 
Petaquamscot, where, the inhabitants being assembled, 19. 
similar proceedings were held without interruption, and 
the Court adjourned to meet at Acquidneset. The pro- 
prietors there inquired if the Court claimed ownership of 
their lands in behalf of the colony, and upon being as- 
sured of the contrary, they readily gave their engagement 
to Rhode Island, and elected officers, who were confirmed 
by the Court. 

All legal and peaceable means having thus been taken June 
to secure the loyalty of Kings Province, the Greneral As- 
sembly met at Newport. One Uselton, having been sen- 7. 
fenced at tlie last Court of Trials to leave the island, but 
still remaining, was brought before the Assembly, where 
his conduct was so insulting that he was sentenced to be 
whipped with fifteen stripes, and to be sent away forth- 
with, and if again found within the colony he was again 
to be punished in the same manner. A burglar, under 
sentence of deatli by the Court of Trials, petitioned for 
reprieve, but was refused, and his execution was ordered 
to take place without delay. The sum of three pence 
per day was allowed for the support of each prisoner con- ^• 
fined upon criminal process. Commissioners were again 



20. 



•^0 



352 HISTOEY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, appointed to treat with Connecticut, and a letter was 
^' sent to that colony reaffirming the authority of Khode 
ir, 71. Island over Kings Province, until the King's will could 
' ""^* he known, accepting the i>roposals for a new treaty, the 
Commissioners to meet at some jilace not within either 
colony, and proposing that the two agents, Dr. Clarke and 
Gov. Winthrop, should be present at such meeting. An 
active correspondence relating to Indian affairs was car- 
•fiil.v ried on with Plymouth. A letter from Gov. Prince, sug- 
gesting a conference at Taunton, was considered so im- 
o] portant that the Council ordered copies of it to he sent 
to the other towns. The Connecticut Council replied to 
the last letter from Ehode Island, that they could not al- 
ter the place of meeting except hy act of their General 
Court, to whom the proposal should he submitted at the 
next session. 

Eumors of Indian hostilities again summoned the coun- 
cil at Newport, who wrote to Governor Prince, and the 
;]1. next day called a council of war to be held the following 
week, and ordered a troop of "horse to attend as a guard. 
A special session of the Assembly was called at Newport. 
The vote of the previous year, appointing Dr. Clarke and 
John Greene as joint agents to conduct the a})peal in 
England, was revised, and Clarke was named as sole agent 
for that purpose. His commission was directed to be made 
out by the Governor, and a new tax of two hundred and 
fifty pounds in silver was assessed. The accumulation of 
large tracts of land, upon the main, in the hands of a few 
persons incapable of improving so much, attracted the at- 
tention of the Assembly. While the tax necessary to the 
defence of these lands was onerous, the effect was to dis- 
courage many upon whom the burden rested without a 
hope of their sharing in the advantages of a freehold. The 
Assembly recommended that some of these wild lands be 
purchased on public account, that those in immediate 



A 11 2-. 



Sept. 



FURTHER DISPUTES WITH CONNECTICUT. 353 

want of land, or wlio might hereafter be received into the chap. 
colony, could be supplied. ^^ 

Upon a petition of the people of Westerly, the Gen- 1671. 
era! Assembly of Connecticut promised them protection, ^c' 
and also a temporary cessation from all suits upon land 
titles, or for tresjiass, provided they peaceably submitted 
to her authority. The proposal in the Ehode Island letter 
of June was so far accepted that commissioners were au- 
thorized to settle all disputes, either by agreement with 
those of Rhode Island, or by a mutual reference of the 
subject to gentlemen selected from the other colonies, to 
meet at Eehoboth or in Boston, either in November or in 
April, and a letter to this effect was sent to Rhode Island. 
The Greneral Assembly met at the usual time, and after 25. 
hearing the correspondence read, adjourned one week to Nov. 
secure a further attendance of deputies. The alarm of ^■ 
war had subsided, as a2:»pears by a letter from the Assem- -j. 
bly to Plymouth ; but not so the troubles on their western 
borders. A reply was sent to Connecticut, selecting See- 4. 
conck, called also Rehoboth, as the place, and April as the 
time, to renew the attempt at a treaty ; but further stat- 
ing that the Rhode Island men would only be empowered 
to decide disputed questions of land title, and not the mat- 
ter of jurisdiction, upon which they could concede nothing. 
To this end a committee was again aj)pointed. When • 
the letter reached Hartford, Governor Winthrop was ab- 
sent, so that no definite answer could be returned. 

Most of the towns were, as usual, in arrears for the last 
assessment, so that the act was renewed. Warwick re- 
fused to furnish her portion of it while the negotiation with -*■* 
Connecticut was yet in progress. At length a formal no- jc-i--^ 
tice was sent by Connecticut, declining the meeting at Jan. 



Rehoboth, as a useless labor, unless the question of juris- 
diction could be entertained. Thus ended, for the present, 
the attempt at negotiation. 

Internal dissensions again occupied the attention of 
VOL. I. — 28 



21). 



354 HISTOFxY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

the council. William Harris was now openly employed, 

on the side of Connecticnt, against the chartered rights of 

1671-2. Rhode Island, with a zeal and ability that could not be 
Feb. 

suffered to pass unnoticed. For this act of treason, 

whether real or constructive, a warrant was issued for his 

24. arrest, and he was committed to prison without bail, to 

await his trial at the May term. 

March An extra session of the Assembly was convened, at 

^- which John Clarke, for the third time within two years, 
was selected as the agent to appear for the colony before 
the King. The repeated renewal of this appointment, and 
the frcrpient revision of laws, especially in relation to taxes, 
arose from a feeling prevalent in those times, that the acts 
of one Assembly were not binding beyond the next session, 
unless then ratified ; each Assembly being in itself a sov- 
ereign body wielding the entire power of the colony. The 
absence of deputies from the mainland towns obliged the 
Assembly to dissolve, and a new one to be called, to meet 
^'^- speedily. At a town meeting in Providence dejauties were 
-, elected for the next Assembly, which was to meet in April ; 

Marcli but as it was ascertained that these men would be unable 
'^'^- to attend at that time, another town meeting was held,' 
to select such as could attend, and who were declared by 
the Assembly to be legally chosen. 

April A paper from William Harris was read, but not re- 

ceived, as it was not directed in a jiroper manner to the 
General Assembly. This being a full Assembly, the act 
of the previous one, ap)pointing Clarke as the agent to 
England, and providing for his support, was renewed. It 
was also enacted, that no tax, raised for a specific purpose, 
should on any account be diverted to other uses, much 
harm having been sustained in this way by the colony. A 
very important bill was passed at this session, which de- 
servedly caused great commotion among the jDCople, and 
cost a large portion of the members their election. This 

' New Year's day, old style, was 25lh March. 



SEDITION ACT. 355 

was the famous sedition act, the origin of which appears, chap. 

in the preamble, to have been the opposition made in the v '^,:^ 

several towns whenever a new tax was assessed. The bill 1^72. 
declared that whoever opposed, by word or deed, in town 2. 
meeting or elsewhere, any rate laid, or any other of the 
acts and orders of the General Assembly, should be bound 
over to the Court of Trials, or imprisoned till it met, at the 
discretion of the justice, for " high contempt and sedition ;" 
and if found guilty, should either be fined, imprisoned, or 
whipped, as the Court might adjudge, A bolder assertion 
of the omnipotence of a Legislature could not be made, 
and it speedily received the rebuke that it merited. But 
the act, severe as it appears, was not passed without reason. 
The grasping spirit of Connecticut on one hand, the fear- 
ful symptoms of savage hostility on the other, and now 
the evidence of treachery within, requiring prompt and 
vigorous measures in the Government to provide means 
of defence against these-threatening calamities, dismember- 
ment of territory and Indian war, would seem to justify the 
assumption, for a time, of the almost dictatorial power here- 
in usurped. It was not intended to abridge the liberties of 
the people, although represented to be so by George Fox, 
the founder of the Friends, who was then in Khode Island. 
An Assembly that was subject to two, and often to three, 
or four ordeals of popular election every year, could not do 
that, or even attempt to do it. But the framers of the bill 
seem not to have reflected, amid tlie difficulties that sur- 
rounded them, upon the abuses to which such an act might 
be perverted. The people saw this directly, and within one 
month, applied the remedy. 

More violent proceedings, by the inhabitants of Ston- 
ington, than any that had yet occurred, demanded the at- 
tention of the Assembly. They had crossed the river, 
and by force and arms had carried away several i:)ersons in 
Westerly to prison. Eedress was refused by Connecticut, 
An act was now passed to confiscate the estates of the as- 



356 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

sailants, being on the east of Pawcatuck river, and also 
those of such Westerly men who might be intimidated by 
these outrages into submission to Connecticut, while any 
damage sustained by those who remained faithful, was to 
be made good from the estates thus forfeited. - 

A committee was appointed to examine the waste lands 
in Narraganset, and to notify the owners, Indian or Eng- 
lish, to appear at the May session to contract for a sale of 
the same to the colony. The schedule of salaries was re- 
vised, to ensure fuller attendance on the Assembly, and at 
the Court of Trials. The Governor was allowed six shil- 
lings, the deputy Grovernor, five shiUings, the magistrates, 
four shillings, and the deputies, the same as by a former 
law, three shillings, for each day's attendance, with double 
fines in case of absence. A dinner was also to be provided 
each day, at public ex})ense, for the whole Assembly, and 
also, during the Court of Trials, for the magistrates. 

A further source of peril, and occasion of expense, was 
about to come upon the too heavily burdened colony. 
War was declared by England against the States General 
"■ of the United Provinces, and letters warnmg the colonists 
to prepare for defence were forthwith despatched to 
America. 

The Assembly met as usual the day before election, 
M'iV ^^^'■^ admitted many freemen. This election was the most 
l.' remarkable one that had occurred for twenty years. The 
changes were almost comj)lete, while repeated refusals to 
accept office threatened to leave some places unfilled. 
William Brenton was elected Governor, but refused to 
serve. He was absent in Taunton at the time, and as his 
answer could not be received for some days, the Court of 
election, after choosing the other officers, adjourned for two 
weeks, when Nicolas Easton was elected. His two sons 
were likewLse chosen as general officers, John as Attorney, 
and Peter as Treasurer. John Cranston was made deputy 
Governor. Of the ten former Assistants, but four were 



NEGOTIATIONS WITH CONNECTICUT RENEWED. 357 

retained, while the change in the twenty deputies was en- chap. 

tire, not a single one in the former Assembly being returned ^^^ 

from any town. 16 72, 

May 
The charter and other important papers were always "j 

kept in the custody of the Grovernor, who, on a new elec- 
tion, delivered them to his successor, taking a formal 
receipt therefor from the committee appointed to receive 
them. This was deemed so important that the receipt, 
specifying the separate papers delivered, was usually en- 
tered upon the records. It was also the custom to open 
every session of the Assembly by reading the charter, 
thereby preserving fresh in the memory of the legislators, 
the provisions of that fundamental instrument. 

The Assembly adjourned for two weeks, after writing 
a letter to Connecticut, requesting that Government not to 
molest the people at Westerly, as it was intended soon to 
propose a method of adjusting all difficulties. The Con- 
necticut Assembly, as soon as it met, appointed new com- 9- 
missioners to treat with Rhode Island, and empowered 
them, in case of failure, to establish their government in 
Narraganset. They also wrote a conciliatory letter to 
Rhode Island acceding to her request, and another to the 
Westerly men, less mild in its import, requiring their sub- 
mission until the treaty with Rhode Island was concluded. 

The General Assembly met by adjournment, and hav- ^^^• 
ing received Governor Brenton's refusal to return to office 
elected Nicolas Easton Governor. Mr. Easton had been 
for two years, President of the colony, just prior to the 
usurpation of Coddington, and was more recently deputy 
Governor for four years. The charter being then read, as 
usual, the Connecticut question was at once debated. 
Commissioners were appointed with full powers to treat, 
and to conclude all differences, and a letter announcing 
this fact, was sent by a special messenger. The subse 
quent correspondence uj)on this subject, for the next four 
years, has not been preserved ; a loss of no great impor- 



358 HISTOEY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, tauce, as nothing more definite resulted from these writings 
^^^ than came from this renewed attempt to settle, by treaty, 
16 72. what conld only be adjusted by the power that conferred 
'll^ the charters whose terms formed the basis of the dispute. 
This done, the Assembly j)roceeded to undo the acts 
of their predecessors- This was performed as thoroughly 
as was the change effected by the recent elections. Not 
a single public act of the previous session remained unre- 
pealed at the close of their labors, nor was there any new 
act passed by them. The mutability of legislation was 
never so perfectly exemplified. A preamble recites that 
" several acts and orders were made in the General As- 
sembly in April last, some whereof seeminge to the in- 
fringeinge of the libertyes of the people of this colony, and 
settinge up an arbitrary power, wdiich is contrary to the 
laws of England, and the fundamentall laws of this colony 
from the very first settling thereof, others seeminge much 
to the prejudice of the collony, and impoverishinge the 
people thereof, to the great disturbance and distraction of 
the good and well minded people thereof, who have many 
of them been sufferers in a great measure already, and like 
more to undergoe, if not timely prevented." 

This strikes first at the sedition act, and then at the 
tax law, including the purposes for which the rate was 
laid. Accordingly, the sedition act was first repealed, the 
appointment of Clarke as agent to England, and the taxes 
for that object, were cancelled, tlie schedule of salaries 
was then rescinded, leaving them as fixed by tlie old law, 
the commission upon waste lands in Narraganset was re- 
voked, as if it contemplated a forced sale by the owners to 
the colony, the confiscation of estates in Westerly was de- 
clared void, and finally, upon a complaint made by Arthur 
Eenner, a censure was passed ujion the April Assembly, 
for having sanctioned the second election of deputies in 
Providence, after it was found that those first elected 



15 



WAEWICK RESOLVES TO RESIST CONNECTICUT. 359 

could not attend. The bitterness of party spirit could go chap. 
no farther, and the Assembly adjourned. 

But the conduct of the Assembly was severely con- 
demned in some portions of the colony. The Assistants 
and deputies of Warwick dissented, in behalf of their 
town, from the action in reference to Connecticut. To 
them it appeared like a concession of rights that was not 
to be tolerated. The town sustained the views of its rep- 
resentatives, and at a full meeting, called for the purpose, 
agreed " to oppose to the uttermost the intrusions of Con- 
necticut," and engaged, at their own expense, with the aid 
of those freemen in the other towns, who might be willing 

7 o 

to unite therein, to maintain the appeal to the King, and 
to send an agent to England for that purpose. This noble 
and spirited pledge, signed by all of the town council, and 
of the freemen present at the meeting, is still preserved in 
.the records of that ancient town. 

The declaration of war with Holland caused meetings 
of the council, at which measures were taken to proclaim 16. 
it in all the towns, and afterward to place the colony in a 
posture of defence. Richard Smith was intrusted with -^' 
these duties in Kings Province. Letters to the other New 
England colonies were also prepared, proposing a confer- 
ence on these matters, as suggested in the King's letter. 

A new subject of agitation now arose. Rhode Island 
had long been taunted by her Puritan neighbors, as the 
refuge of every kind of religious or political vagary. In 
the fierce persecution to which the Quakers had been sub- 
jected, she oifered a free asylum to the oppressed, and re- 
sisted alike the threats and the entreaties by which it was 
sought to force her from her fidelity to the cause of relig- 
ious freedom. The security which this firmness afforded 
to the preachers of the new sect, led Rhode Island to be- 
come a flivorite resort of many of the followers of Fox, who 
came hither from England and Barbadoes, to disseminate 
their doctrines, as from a central point whence they might 



Julv. 



3G0 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

<.'nAP. easily make excursions in all directions tlirougli the Amer- 
__'_J^ ican colonies. Their great leader himself spent two years 
1 6 7 2. in America, and was at this time in Khode Island, to- 
^ ' gether with Edmiindson, Biirnyeat, Stiihhs, and Cart- 
wright, all active and eloquent missionaries of the new 
faith. Everywhere, except in Khode Island, toleration of 
doctrine implied, in the main, concurrence of sentiment. 
Hence it was asserted that the public feeling of this colony 
was friendly to the theology of Fox, and the assertion car- 
ried greater weight because, at this time, some of the mag- 
istrates were of that sect. Roger Williams, as the peculiar 
champion of intellectual freedom, wished to give evidence 
at the same time, of the devotion of his colony to the cause 
of " soul liberty," and of their dissent from the teachings 
of George Fox. " I had in my eye the vindicating of this 
colony for receiving of such persons, whom others would 
not. We suifer for their sakes, and are accounted their 
abettors." How could he better effect this object than by 
showing that the new doctrine was not generally accepted 
in Rhode Island, although its followers were not only pro- 
tected here, but were admitted to the highest places of 
25 government ? For this purpose, Williams drew up a pa- 
per containing fourteen propositions, denouncing in strong- 
est terms, the tenets of Quakerism, and challenged Fox 
and his adherents to a public discussion of seven of these 
points at Newport, and of the remainder at Providence. 
For this he has been charged with inconsistency, and ac- 
cused of persecuting the Quakers ! In our day there 
appears indeed to be more of zeal than of wisdom in the 
conduct of this controversy. Yet, although he stren- 
uously condemned the teachings of the Friends, and per- 
formed a marvellous feat of physical and mental labor to 
oppose them, he would have laid down his life sooner than 
have a hair of their heads injured on account of their doc- 
trinal views. The qualities that enabled him to accom- 
plish the one would have sustained him equally in the 



WILLIAMS' DEBATE WITH THE QUAKERS. 361 

other. It should ho remembered also thcat these public chap. 

disputes, upon points of dogmatic theology, were as com- .^J,^^ 

mon in Europe and America, in those times, as political 16 72. 

. Julv. 

discussions are in our own day. In Germany especially, 

for more than a century, they had furnished the arena for 
those brilliant displays of intellectual gladiatorship which, 
in the progress of civilization, had succeeded the martial 
strifes of the feudal ages. 

The challenge was sent, through some friends of Fox, 
to Deputy Governor Cranston, to be delivered by him to 
the Quaker apostle. Several days elapsed before Crans- 
ton received it, and meanwhile Fox had left the island. 26. 
Just Ijcfore his departure he wrote a singular paper to ^. 
Thomas Olney, jr., and John Whipple, jr., at Providence, 
known as " George Fox's instructions to his friends," 
which was answered with unseemly severity, the follow- 
ing year, by Olney, in a lengthy article entitled " Ambi- 
tion anatomised." Fox's departure excited a suspicion 
that the challenge was purposely retained until he had 
gone away, which gave rise to an unbecoming pun by 
.Williams about " George Fox's slily departing." 
■ The most remarkable incident connected with this ^^^^q. 
controversy was that Mr. Williams, then seventy-three 8. 
years of age, rowed himself in a boat from Providence to 
Newport to engage in it. The effort occupied an entire 
day. He reached his destination near midnight before 
the appointed morning. The discussion was held in the r, 
Quaker meeting-house and lasted three days. His oppo- t<> 
nents were three of the disciples of Fox, before named. 
Burnyeat and Stubbs were able and learned men, and all 
of them were well trained in the school of polemic divin- 
ity. Williams' brother Robert, then a teacher in New- 
port, offered to aid him in the discussion, but was pre- 
vented by his opponents. The first seven propositions 
being concluded, the debate was resumed at Providence 17. 
by Edmuudson and Stubbs, but continued only one day. 



362 HISTOEY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP. That 110 immediate good resulted from tlie discussion, or 
_^^^ that there was more of human frailty than of Christian 
1G72. meekness displayed in the mode of conducting it, is not 
^ ""■ surprising. But the object of Williams was attained in 
opposing what he held to he error, while defending the 
principles upon which that error was tolerated, as being 
a matter beyond the pale of human legislation. ^ 
July. A most unexpected invasion of the rights of Ehode 

Island occurred at this time. Among the many worth- 
less grants v/ith which the Council of Plymouth overlaid 
their boundless dominion, was one to the Earl of Stirling, 
that embraced a large part of Maine, and included also 
Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard and Long Island, with the 
adjacent islands. This right lie afterwards sold to James, 
Duke of York, brother and successor of Charles IL, on 
whom the King, in his reckless bestowal of empire in the 
new world, likewise conferred a large portion of the re- 
cent conquests from the Dutch, including the present 
State called after his title. Prudence Island, originally 
purchased by Eoger AVilliams and Gov. Winthrop, sen., 
had long since passed out of their hands, and was noAv 
the property of John Paine, a merchant of Boston. He 
had contributed liberally to rebuild fort James, at New 
25. York, and now received from Gov. Lovelace, as attorney 
of the Duke of York, a grant of Prudence island, to be 
held as a free manor, by the name of Sophy Manor, for 
an annual quit-rent of two barrels of cider and six pairs 
"^' of capons. The following week the grant was confirmed, 

' We have before liad occasion to refer the reader to dull treatises upon 
doctrinal theology, where he may verify, if ho chooses, the statements of the 
text. There are many authorities whence the above account is derived, 
which the theological student or the devoiit antiquary can consult for the de- 
tails of tins famous dispute. Williams' own account is in a hook of over 300 
pages, entitled " George Fox digged out of his Biu'rowes."' The opposite 
side is given in " A New England Firebrand Quenched,'' written by Fox and 
Burnycatin reply to the foregoing. See also "A Journal of the Life, &€., ot 
William Edmundson," London, 171o ; ''The Truth Exalted;" Burnyeal's 
Memoirs, London, 1691 • and Knowles' Rogor Williams, pp. 33(3-40. 



PRUDENCE ISLAND INDEPENDENT. 363 

and Paine was made Governor for life, with a Council to chap. 
be chosen from the inhabitants of the island, of whom ^^1^ 
there were now a considerable mimbcr, and Courts for the 10 7 2. 
trial of small causes were established, larger ones to be ^' 
tried at the New York assizes. The seventh article of 
the constitution of government contained in this grant 
asserted the principle of religious freedom, as then under- 
stood abroad, limiting it to Clnistians, and requiring dis- 
senters to aid in support of the church established by the 
authorities of the place. On account of further pay- 
ments made by Paine towards fort James he was relieved 
from quit-rent, and the island was released from all taxes. 
The estate was held by him in fee simple, and was now 
an absolutely independent government, the smallest in 
America. A few days later Paine's commission as Gov- 
ernor for life of Sophy Manor was confirmed. It will be 
seen that this act of Lovelace was a great stretch of the 
StirHng grant, and might with equal justice have in- 
cluded Acquednick, as the Plymouth Council patents 
were long anterior to the first charter of Providence Plan- 
tations. Prudence island liad pertained to Portsmouth 
since the first settlement of Acquednick. 

This act of intrusion aroused the spirit of the colony 
Paine was at once arrested and thrown into prison, as ap- 6 
pears from the acts of the Council of New York, but was 
discharged on bail. He wrote a long letter to Lovelace, 
giving an account of the conflict of patents in Khode Is- 
land^ and of his own difficulties from that source. At 
the Court of Trials he was indicted, under the law of 
1658, for attempting to bring in a foreign jurisdiction, 
and found guilty. The pleadings are preserved among 
the records of New York. The matter was finally settled, 
as many other difficulties were in those times, by tacit 
consent, without any formal act of adjustment, and Pru- 
dence island quietly relapsed from the condition of inde- 



Sept. 



Oct. 



16. 



0. 



3G4 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, pendent sovereignty to its early dependence on the town 

_i^ of Portsmouth. 

ir>7 2. Certain men in Westerly petitioned the Assembly at 

Hartford to he incorporated as a distinct plantation, and 
to be released from fines incurred and from taxes for one 
year. To' this it was answered, that, being a part of 
Stonington, the first request could not be granted, but 
that the fines should be remitted, and also the colony tax, 
but not the town rate or the minister's dues. 

Nov. The General Assembly incorporated Block Island, and 

at the request of the inhabitants named it New Shore- 
ham, " as signs of our unity and likeness to many parts 
of our native country." The freemen were authorized to 
choose two Wardens, who should have the power of Jus- 
tices of the Peace, and to add three other good men to 
compose the town Council, who were to hold quarterly 
meetings, to see that a registry of births, marriages and 
deaths was kej)t by the Clerk, and to conduct the trial of 
causes under five pounds. The town was to send two 
Dejjuties to the Assembly, which had not been done since 
the year the island was annexed to the colony, and was 
not done for some years after this time. New Shoreham 
thus became the sixth town received into the colony, and 
was in reality at this time the fifth, since the controversy 
with Connecticut had practically withdrawn Westerly 
from all participation in colonial afiairs. 

The care of our ancestors to prevent any important 
act from becoming a law, without a fair expression of the 
will of the peo})le, has been often illustrated in the course 
of this work. The neglect of deputies to attend the 
General Assembly led to further legislation on this sub- 
ject. As the charter vested the full powers of the As- 
sembly in the Governor and Council in cases of invasion, 
it was enacted, that in sudden emergencies of this sort 
the acts of the Assembly should be binding although but 
few deputies were present ; but as the bill of rights of 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 365 

third Charles I., protected the subject from any tax not chap. 
levied by consent of Parliament, it was declared that no 
rate should be assessed upon the colony -without a full 
representation from all the towns ; neither could any act 
affecting the King's honor, or the people's liberties, be 
valid unless a majority of the deputies were present. The 
pay of the deputies was reduced to two shillings a day, 
and the fine for absence from any Assembly was laid at 
twenty shillings, or double that amount if a quorum was 
not present. The deputies were also, for the first time, 
required to take an engagement, to be administered by 
the Governor, upon entering on the duties of their office. 
This was an innovation that met with strenuous opposi- 
tion from the mainland towns. The owners of the Ath- 
erton purchase petitioned for relief from the law by which 
their land was forfeited. Their prayer was granted, by a 
repeal of the act so far as it applied to their direct pur- 
chase. Their title was confirmed, Avith a proviso that no 
lawful complainant should be debarred from his right of 
action by any thing contained in the said act of confirma- 
tion. 

It would seem that the separate powers of the magis- 
trates were not distinctly defined or well understood, for 
a censure was passed upon John Glreene, Assistant of 
Warwick, for having granted, by his own authority, a bill 
of divorce. This proceeding was sharply reproved by the 
Assembly, as being a usurpation of judicial power in su- 
perseding the action of the Court of Trials. The town ig72-3. 
of Warwick declared the divorce to be legal, and pro- '^^i^' 
tested against this censure upon their leader, and also 
against the acts in favor of the Atherton company, and 
that requiring the engagement to be taken by the depu- 
ties, as being repugnant to the accepted law of the col- 
ony. A remonstrance prepared by the clerk was adopted 
at a special town meeting, and cojiies were ordered to be 
sent to the other to^vns and to the General Assembly. " ' 



366 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND, 

CHAF. When tills body met, the Warwick deiiuties refused to 

v.^_A^ take the engagement, although all the others conformed 
16 73. to the new law. Governor Easton was re-elected. For the 
'7"^ office of deputy Governor, four persons were successively 
chosen and declined, until William Coddington accepted. 
This was the first public oflice he had held since the usur- 
pation, except that once he had been a deputy, and then 
an Assistant from Newport.' Eichard Smith was again 
chosen an Assistant, but declined, having then in view the 
acceptance of an appointment from Connecticut. The 
change in the list of Assistants was as great as it had been 
at the former election, but three of the old set remaining. 
William Harris having cleared himself of the charges 
against him, and given satisfaction to the Court, was again 
elected an Assistant. Of the old deputies less than one- 
half were returned. The general officers remained nearly 
as before. The only act, worthy of notice, was the appoint- 
ment of a committee to consult with all the chief sachems 
upon some means for preventing the excess of drunkenness, 
to which the Indians were addicted. 

The Connecticut Assembly again appointed resident 

magistrates in Kings Province, and made Richard Smith 

president of the court thus erected. 

July The capture of New York by a Dutch fleet, caused a 

2*^- special session of the General Assembly, to provide against 

an expected assault upon this colony. A pension act was 

passed for the relief of those who might be wounded in the 

13" war, or of the families of the slain, who were to apply to 

the general Treasurer for necessary support, and if they 

failed to obtain it from him, they were to have an action 

of debt against him, to be prosecuted in their behalf, by 

the proper officers, free of charge. An exemption act was 

likewise passed in favor of those whose consciences were 

opposed to war. A very long and curious preamble recites 

the scriptural and other arguments against war, by reason 

' In 1G66 lie was deputy, and in 1GG7 an assistant. 



15 



All 



EXEMPTION ACT. — SUNDAY LAW. INDIAN JURY. 367 

of whicli the Quakers were excused, with a proviso requir- chad. 
ing them to do civil duty, in removing the sick and aged, ^^1^ 
and vakiable property, out of harm's way, in keeping watch, 16 7 3. 
although without arms, and in performing any other duty 
of a civil nature that might be required by the magis- 
trates. At the next session, these acts were confirmed, and Sept. 
a lengthy statute against selling liquor to the Indians, was 
passed. The committee on this subject had consulted 
with the sachems, at whose request heavy penalties were 
imposed upon Indians found drunk, as well as on the deal- 
ers who made them so. A Sunday law was enacted to re- 
strain gaming and tippling on that day, but with careful 
reservations, for the liberty of conscience, that the act 
should not be construed as enforcing attendance upon, or 
absence from religious services. The quaintness of many of 
these early statutes is not more remarkable than the ear- 
nestness with which they insist that nothing therein con- 
tained shall be construed as permitting any violation of the 
fundamental principles of the colony. The preambles to 
the exemption act, and to the Sunday law, are striking ex- 
amples of this watchfulness. 

The last two had been extra meetings of the Assembly. 
These, although of frequent occurrence, never superseded 
the regular sessions prescribed in the charter, although but 
a few weeks, or even days, sometimes intervened. An In- 
dian being about to be tried for the murder of another,' the 
Assembly ordered that one-half the jury should be com- t)<^t- 
posed of Indians, and that Indian testimony might be re- 
ceived in such cases, which was not allowed when English- 
men were the sole parties. The accounts of John Clarke 
had not yet been settled. Four hundred and fifty pounds 
was claimed by him, as still due from the colony. Wil- 
liam Harris was empowered to negotiate with Dr. Clarke, 
in writing, upon this matter, to examine the items of the 
claim, and to report to a future Assembly. 

At the next general election, William Coddington was 



368 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, cliosen Governor and John Easton deputy Governor. The 
offices of Treasurer and Attorney General were united in 
Peter Easton, the late Treasurer, his brother, the late At- 
torney, being now deputy Governor. The Assistants re- 
mained nearly the same. The deputies wei-e always chang- 
ing more or less. The office was esteemed a burden, which 
but few would assume for more than one or two sessions as 
required by law. 

The people of Narraganset felt the want of certainty 
in their condition of Government, and desired the Assembly 
to settle this point, for wliich purpose a committee was ap- 
pointed. It was quite common for the Assembly to take a 
recess of several days, in which the Court of Trials was held. 
This was nov,^ doRe, and at the remeeting, the difficulties 
which the conflict of jurisdiction caused in the business of 
18. the Courts, led to the passage of an act, by which any per- 
son summoned as a witness was freed from liability to ar- 
rest, during his attendance on the court. 

The events of this year were few and unimportant. 
The news of peace between England and Holland removed 
the chief source of solicitude to the colonists. The Con- 
20- necticut Assembly confirmed the Massachusetts grants of 
land in Westerly to Harvard college, and to divers iudivid- 
„Q uals, and also, upon petition of Wickford men, established 
a Court there, and soon proclaimed the same in due form 

June at that place, and afterwards appointed a Court to meet 
at Stonington, in behalf of the people of Narraganset, 
8. which was never held. ' These demonstrations were lightly 
regarded, and were effectually met by the Governor and 
council, who proceeded to Narraganset, and established the 
township of Kingston ; which act was approved by the 
Assembty, and Kingston was incorporated as the seventh 
town of the colony, upon the same terms with New Shore- 
ham. The excise of liquors which, by an old law, pertained 
to each town, was now ordered to go into the general treas- 

' Conn. Col. Rec , ii. 227, 231, "iiB. 



12 

Oct 



28. 



MASSACRE AT SWANZEY. 369 

ury, and was to be fanned out to an officer engaged for chap. 
the purpose, who might regulate the quantity to be used. ^"^.^ 
The probate of wills, which heretofore had been in the head l '"> V -i. 
officer of the town, was at this session vested in the town 
councils. 

At the next general election, the same officers were 1075. 
continued with uncommon unanimity. The only sid)ject ^l''>' 
of interest that was acted upon, was that of weights and 
measures. These were ordered to be procured of the Eng- 
lish standard, and one man in each town was to inspect 
and to seal with an anchor, all that were in use, in confor- 
mity therewith. 

The quiet that, for the past few months, had every 
v.'here prevailed, was not unlike that ominous calm which, 
in the natural world, so often precedes some fearful con- 
vulsion of the elements. Slowly, but surely, for many 
years, the storm of Indian war had been gathering. At 
times the clouds had loomed above the horizon, and the 
mutterings of discontent had warned the colonists, as the 
rumbling of distant thunder foretells the approaching 
tempest. We have seen how active preparations weye ' 
made at such times to avert the danger, and with apparent 
success. But the clouds were only broken, not dispersed. 
An unusual period of peace had lulled to fancied security 
the unsuspecting English ; but this time had beeii em- 
ployed by the great leader of the native tribes in perfect- 

ino; his secret plans. The moment had now arrived when 

® ■'■ June 

the terrible truth should be revealed. The massacre at 

Swanzey startled all New England with the fearful ven- 
geance that for years had been brooding in the dark mind 
of Pl^jlip of Pokanoket. 

Three men, remarkable in the history of Rhode Island 
as pioneers of the infant settlements, passed away as the 
clouds of war arose to threaten the destruction of their life 
labors. AViUiam Blackstone deceased ' but a few days be- 

■ May 2Gtli, Itjjj, ante, chap. iv. 
VOL. I.— 24 



370 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

('HAT. fore liis dwelling, on tlie banks of the Seekonk, was cle- 
J^^^ stroyed by tlie savages. John Weeks, one of the founders 
16 7 5. of Warwick, was butchered by the Indians at the com- 
mencement of hostilities, and Governor Nicolas Easton 
died soon after at Newport. He was indeed a pioneer. 
In the spring of 1634 ^ he landed in New England with 
his two sons, Peter and John, and the following spring 
tliey commenced the settlement of Agawam, or Newberry. 
Three years later, they built the first English house in 
Hampton, whence they removed to Pocasset, in consequence 
of the Antinomian controversy, the same year. The next 
spring they went to Newport, and there again erected the 
first European dwelling, and in 1663, they built the first 
windmill on the island." Governor Easton was several 
times chosen an Assistant, and was for two years, prior to 
the usurpation of Coddington, President of the colony un- 
der the first patent, and again for the two years previous 
to his death, he was elected Governor under the second 
charter. His sons became equally distinguished, and to 
one of them, John, now deputy Governor of the colony, we 
are indebted for an authentic history of the war which we 
are about to narrate. 



APPENDIX C. 

ERRORS OF GRAIIAME AND CHALMERS. 

AIT. Grahame in his History of North America, vol. i. p. 

373, edition 1833, says :— 

'• The colony of lihoile Island had received the tidings of the res- 
toration with much real or apparent satisfaction. It was hoped that 

' May 14th, 1634. 

- These facts are chiefly taken from inarghial notes in the handwriting of 
Peter Easton, in an old copy of Morion's Memorial, now owned by Lis de- 
scendant, J. Alfred Hazard, Esq., of Newport. 



ERRORS OF GRAHAME AND CHALMERS. 371 

the suspension of its charter by the Long Parliament wonld more 
than compensate the demerit of having accepted a charter from such 
authority ; and that its exclusion from the confederacy of which Mas- 
sachusetts was the head, would operate as .a recommendation to royal 
favor. The King was early proclaimed ; and one Clarke was soon af- 
ter sent as deputy from the colony to England, in order to carry the 
dutiful respects of the inliabitants to the foot of the throne, and to 
solicit a new charter in their flivor. Clarke conducted his negotiation 
with a baseness that rendered the success of it dearly bought. He 
not only vaunted the loyalty of the inhabitants of Rhode Island, 
while the only proof he could give of it was, that they had bestowed 
the name of Kings Province on a territory which they had acquired 
from the Indians ; but meeting this year the deputies of ^fassachu- 
setts at the Court, he publicly challenged them to mention any one 
act of duty or loyalty shown by their constituents to the present King 
or his father, from their first establishment in New England. Yet the 
inhabitants of Rhode Island had taken a patent from the Long Parlia- 
ment in the commencement of its struggle with Charles II., while 
Massachusetts had declined to do so when the Parliament was at the 
height of its power and success." 

lu the London edition, 183G, p. 315, some sliglit ver- 
bal alterations appear in tlie above passages, wbicli do not 
aifect their purport. In the revised American edition the 
word " baseness" is changed to the expression " supple- 
ness of adroit servility," which is equally inaccurate and 
unjust. The harsh charge here laid upon Dr. Clarke was 
rebutted by Mr. Bancroft in a note to chap. xi. vol. ii. p. 
64, edit. 1837, of his History of the United States, 
wherein he says : " the charge of baseness is Grahame's 
own invention," an expression, perhaps, in itself too se- 
vere to apply to the learned and friendly Briton, whom 
Mr. Bancroft in the same note says, " is usually very can- 
did in his judgments," since the accusation of " baseness " 
was not invented by Grahame, but was evidently the result 
of his misapprehension of the authority he cites — the 
partisan historian Chalmers. After the emendation ap- 
peared in the revised edition, Mr. Bancroft, in 1841, soft- 
ened the charge of invention to that of "unwarranted mis- 
apprehension," in which he is fully sustained by the facts. 



372 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP. This note occasioned a prolonged controversy between Mr. 



IX. 



APP 



Bancroft and Mr. Qnincy, the American editor of Gra- 
hame's history, npon the merits of wliich we do not pro- 
])Ose to touch, only so far as injustice has been done therein 
to Ehode Island, in the attempt to display the superior 
honesty and candor of the Massachusetts agents at the 
expense of Clarke. The passages in Chalmers' Political 
Annals, Book I. chap. xi. p. 273, 274-6, cited by Grra- 
hame, as his authority for the above quoted remarks on 
Ehode Island, read as follows. After referring to the ex- 
clusion of Ehode Island from the New England league, 
owning to the dislike felt in Massachusetts for her liberal 
principles, he says : — 

'• Necessity therefore obliged them to provide for their security by 
other means. They cultivated the friendship of the neighboring sa- 
chems with the greatest success ; whereby they acquired considerable 
influence over their minds, which was of considerable importance. 
And that ascendancy they employed, during the year 1G44, to procure 
from the chiefs of the Narragaasets a formal surrender of their coun- 
try, which was afterwards called the Kings Province, to Charles I., 
in right of his crown, in consideration of that protection which the 
unhappy monarch then wanted for himself. Yet no measure could 
be more offensive to Massachusetts, or could provoke more her resent- 
ment ; because it was equally inconsistent with her usual practice and 
present views of acquiring the subjection of the same territory to her- 
self. The dejmties of these i)lantations boasted to Charles II. of the 
merits of this transaction, and at the same time ' challenged the agents 
of Boston to display any one act of duty or loyalty shown by theii 
constituents to Charles I. or to the present King, from their first es- 
tablishment in New England.' The challenge thus confidently given 
was not accepted." p. 273, " That event [the Kestoration] gave 
great satisfection to these plantations, because they hoped to be re- 
lieved from that constant dread of ]\Iassachusetts which had so long 
afflicted them. And they immediately proclaimed Charles 11., because 
they wished for protection, and intended soon to beg for favors. They 
not long after sent Clarke as their agent to the Court of that mon- 
arch, to solicit for a patent, which was deemed in New England so 
essential to real jurisdiction. And in September, 16G2, he obtained 
the object of his prayei-s. Yet, owing to the opposition of Connecti- 
cut, the present charter was not finally passed till July. 10G3." 



ERRORS OF GRAHAME AND CHALMERS. 373 

The remainder of the reference contains an abstract 
of the charter, and some erroneous statements of the ac- 
tion had under it, to which we shall hereafter refer. 

Now, admitting, for the moment,- that Chalmers is 
good authority, which we shall presently disprove, so far 
at least as regards this portion of his annals, an examina- 
tion of the foregoing quotations from the two authors will 
show that Mr. Grahame has drawn two erroneous infer- 
ences, not warranted by his citations, and has stated them 
as facts. First, that the name of Kings Province was a 
proof, and, as he states, "the only proof " that Clarke 
could give of the " vaunted loyalty of the inhabitants of 
Rhode Island." Chalmers, it will be seen, says parenthet- 
ically, that the surrendered country " was afterwards 
called the Kings Province," which is correct, but is very 
different from the statement of Grrahame. The fact is, 
that the name of Kings Province first appears in the in- 
structions to the commissioners, at the head of whom was 
Col. Nicholls, who were sent by the King to visit New 
England, and were furnished with three sets of instruc- 
tions regulating their conduct, one as to Massachusetts, 
one as to Connecticut, and the other secret, all dated 23d 
April, 1664, and also a commission to determine appeals, 
boundary disputes, &c., dated two days later. They are 
in New England Papers, bundle 1, pp. 182-194, in the 
British State Paper Office. Article 3 of the set of in- 
structions for Connecticut relates to the Ehode Island 
boundary, and in article 4, referring to the submission of 
the Narraganset sachems, it orders that if it prove true, 
the commissioners should take rent from the occupants, 
and shall call the country Kings Province. This order 
took effect on 20th March following, by formal proclama- 
tion of the commissioners, as appears in New England 
Papers, vol. iii. p. 4, British State Paper Office, printed 
in 3 R. I. H. Col., 179-81. This is the earliest mention 
of the name of Kings Province, which was given by royal 



374 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ERODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, decree, nearly two years after tlie Eliode Island charter 
^"^' was issued, and in relation to the time of the submission 

'^c^'' hy the sachems just twenty years " afterwards." Upon 
this point then Chalmers is correct and Grahamc wTong. 
The second false statement in which Grahame is not 
borne out by his authority is that Clarke " meeting this 
year (1662) the deputies of Massachusetts, challenged 
them to mention any one act of duty or loyalty shown by 
their constituents." A due attention to the above ex- 
tract will show that Chalmers says no such thing. The 
faulty connection of the passage would perhaps give to a 
cursory reader the idea received by Grahame, and very 
distinctly and injuriously perpetuated by him. Chal- 
mers' words are obscure, it is true, relating to another and 
later affair, as will directly be shown ; but certainly Mr, 
Grahame, before thus cruelly assailing Clarke, should 
have examined the authority to which Chalmers refers. 
He would have there found that Chalmers' citation was 
not to Clarke's conduct, Imt to a very difierent point, and 
he would thus have been led either to suspect the accuracy 
of the Annalist, or to discover his own misapplication of 
his language. Upon these two points, therefore, Mr. 
Grahamc has erred in drawing inferences that are not sus- 
tained by his authorities, and as he has thus done a great 
wrong — all the greater from the acknowledged excellence 
of his character and general accuracy of his work — we 
have felt compelled to furnish what we consider as the 
proof of unpardonable carelessness in a historian. The 
only other reference which he gives, Hazard ii. 612, is to 
a copy of the charter. 

It really seems as if Mr. Bancroft's charge of " inven- 
tion," or rather of " unwarranted misapprehension," was 
not so unfounded as has been represented, or so unjusti- 
fiable, when we consider the pains that a writer of history 
is morally bound to bestow upon his work before assailing 
the private character or the public acts of any man whom he 



ERRORS OF GRAHAME AND CHALMERS. 375 

has occasion to mention ; and also when we see, as in these chat. 
two points, how Mr. Grahamc has distorted the authority .^^I,-^ 
upon which he relies. The note and reference attached "^P'- 
to this passage of Chalmers, the first one before quoted, 
reads tlms : " There is a copy of the Indian Surrender in 
New England Papers, bundle 3 ; and see the same, i>. 
25," the latter clause referring plainly enough to the doc- 
ument whence his extract is made. That document 
could be found in five minutes by the clerks in the State 
Paper Office, and placed before any applicant authorized 
by government to have access to its archives. The Brit- 
ish Government are very liberal in granting permission, 
even to foreign students of history, who apply for this 
privilege, only limiting their range of research, in the case 
of Americans at least, with the commencement of the 
revolution. A British subject would, of course, as easily 
obtain entrance, and without such limitation. Tliat Mr. 
Grahame did not use the privilege to verify his authority in 
this case is evident. The paper referred to is a " Petition 
of the Warwick deputies (Randall Holden and John 
Greene) to the Board of Trade, together with their reply 
to the Massachusetts agents," who on the 30th July, 
1678, had answered a complaint made by the Warwick 
men, wherein was exposed the former conduct of Massa- 
chusetts toward Gorton and his company. The document 
embraces four pages, 24-27 of the volume, or bundle, and 
on page 25, the precise reference of Chalmers, occur the 
words, or nearly those, quoted by him. The aggravated 
circumstances of that case justified the challenge of the 
Warwick deputies, and the silence of those of Massachu- 
setts, was a discreet reserve for which they could hardly 
be expected to receive the praises of any man conversant 
with the facts. Chalmers' obscurity and Grahame's over- 
sight have furnished Mr. Quincy with an occasion for un- 
due elation in contrasting the conduct of the two colonies 
at this time. We only regret that he should lend the 



376 HISTOEY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

(jiiAP. sanction of his revered and distinguished name to the 
_J_J^ slander against Chirke, and to the defamation of Rhode 
^\i:^'- Island. (See 3 Mass. Hist. Colls., vol. ix. p. 28, note, 
and " The Memory of the late James Grahame Vindi- 
cated," 8vo. 59 pp. Boston, 184G, passim.) 

If, as he says, ''' The agents of Massachusetts would 
not condescend, for the sake even of saving their charter, 
to feign a sentiment which they were sensible had no ex- 
istence," it is more than can he said of the general Court 
that deputed them, the iirst article of whose instructions 
to them is to " present us to his Majesty as his loyal and 
obedient subjects." (Hutchinson's Collections, 355.) 
Whatever else we may render to our sister colony as her 
just due, it is not in the qualities of honesty or of candor 
that Ehode Island or John Clarke should yield the palm 
to Massachusetts or her agents. 

We have now to examine the reliability of Chalmers 
himself, with particular reference to chapter xi, on Rhode 
Island. No one can read the " Political Annals " with- 
out being impressed with the partisan spirit of that work. 
If the reader were ignorant of the circumstances of the 
author's life, he could scarcely fail to discover the princi- 
pal points of it from a perusal of his pages. The bitter- 
ness of the loyalist refugee appears in the title-page, and 
is conspicuous to the last passage of his book. He writes 
in 1780, when the Declaration of Independence had been 
four years in operation, and but a faint hope remained 
that the prerogative of the crown could ever be re-estab- 
lished in America, and yet he styles the country " the 
present United Colonies," and he closes the volume with 
a formal denial of the "immutable truths" upon which 
that Declaration is based. W^henever an opportunity oc- 
curs to liout the principles of freedom by maligning the 
motives of its friends, he does so with an evident satis- 
ftxction which he takes no pains to conceal. An honest 
regard to the truth of history is everywhere secondary to 



ERROES OF GRAHAME AND OF CHALMERS. 377 

his hatred of civil and religious liberty. With such sen- 
timents for a groundwork it is only remarkable that his 
statements should be received without suspicion, and his 
ample references taken without verification by writers 
who, like Grahame, are imbued with opposite opinions. 
The position he held as a Secretary of the Board of Trade, 
to whose custody the colonial archives were intrusted, 
and the fulness of his references to original papers, have 
so long given currency to his work as the highest author- 
ity, that it seems bold at tliis day to question its correct- 
ness upon any point of colonial history. Nor would the 
writer venture to do so now except upon the clearest evi- 
dence, and because in the chapter that most concerns us 
the spirit of the author is more than usually apparent, 
and his erroneous statements have done more than those 
of all others to misrepresent the motives and the conduct 
of our ancestors. 

Chalmers Avas born in Scotland, studied law in Edin- 
burg, emigrated to America, and practised at the bar of 
Maryland for ten years. As a stanch loyalist, he re-' 
turned home at the time of the revolution. There he de- 
voted himself to historical pursuits. His situation with 
the Board of Trade was not obtained till six years after 
the publication of the Annals, when it was bestowed as 
a reward of his loyalty, and as a compensation for the 
sufferings he had endured. It is evident, however, that 
he had free access to the colonial papers before his ap- 
pointment in that office. His ability is unquestionable ; 
but the facts we have stated require that discretion 
should be exercised in perusing the Annals, and demand 
the application of the severest canons of historical criti- 
cism, before receiving as truth the statements and deduc- 
tions therein presented. As a general rule, in this case it 
may be said that whatever Chalmers states favorably for 
the colonists may be relied upon. The evidence must be 
very clear to his mind when he does so. Wliatever he 



378 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

states as fact unfavorable to them requires tliat his refer- 
ences should be verified, and if no reference is given, the 
statement would more safely be thrown aside. Whatever 
he ofters as a deduction from stated facts, as philosophy, 
or as " remarks," should for the most part be discarded, 
as being only the reflections of a mind opposed at every 
point to the princijdes of the colonists, and hence unable 
to appreciate their motives. And finally, those state- 
ments that are susceptible of confirmation by the archives 
of the plantations, kept Ijy the Board of Trade, are in 
the main reliable, ^^•hile those which could only be verified 
by the records of the colonies themselves, as being chiefly 
matters of local concern, should not be credited without 
examination of the original evidence in this country. 
There is ntDt an American colony that has not suffered 
injustice in some way by this work, through those who 
have blindly relied upon its accuracy ; and none more so 
than Rhode Island. To specify the errors of fact and of 
inference contained in the single chapter upon this State, 
would be tedious and superfluous. Suffice it to say, that 
the comments ujion the charter near the close of the chap- 
ter begin with an error of date, and are so interwoven 
with misstated facts and partial truths, and so colored by 
party biases, as to destroy the value of the whole. 

APPENDIX D. 

CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE ATHERTON COMPANY AND 
JOHN AMNTIIROP, Ji:., AGENT FOR CONNECTICUT, IN LONDON. 

FROM JISS. TRUMBCLL PAPEKS, VOL. XXII., NOS. 38, 47 AND 45, IN THE AR- 
CHIVES OF THE MASS. HIST. SOCIETY. 



BosTOX, 20tt Sept., ICGl. 
Hon'rd Sr. — After our services pi'cseuted to yo'sclfe we make 
boulde to request this favor to be added to al j'o^^ former, considering 
it may be for our further comfortc to have the Lauds wee have at 



ATHERTON COMPANY CORRESPONDENCE. 379 

Narragansett in some pattent and yo'selfe being now in England and 
having an interest with ourselves therein, we conceave that if you 
could procure them into Connecticut pattent it would be best, and 
therefore if you could procure the line to runne alonge from Oonecti- 
cot by the Bays pattent til it meete with Plimoth pattent, and then 
by plimoth pattent tile it come into Naragauset Bay and soe into the 
sea, and bounded b}^ the sea til it meete with the further parte of Co- 
necticot jurisdiction with all the islands adjoyueing it would reach ye 
whole. But notwithstanding this our advice wee desire to have our 
particular Interest fi'om the Indians to be reserved to us and onely y-" 
jurisdiction or government to be within Conecticot, onely we leave it 
to yo'selfe which way you finde most feaseable whether in Conecticot 
pattent or Plimoth provided whichever it be our particular Interest 
be reserved to ourselves. If you cannot attain these boundes yet wee 
desire if it may be that our particular lands, the propriety alwaies re- 
served to ourselves, may be got into Conecticot pattent, however freed 
from Roade Island. Thus craving excuse for our bouldness we take 
leave, onely subscribing ourselves yo'' real servants apointcd to sub- 
scribe our names in the behalf of the rest. 

Edward Hutchinson Rich'' Lord 

Will'" Hudson Am Richison. 

The former is what we formerly writ by Mr. Lord and not havcing 
anything to add send the same again, onely the Lord hath maide a sad 
breach amongst us by taking to himselfe Maj' General Atharton who 
was slaine by a fall from his horse. 

ffor the Right Worshipful 

John Winthrope, Esqr 

these present. 

II. 

FRO:\r MR WIXTIIROP TO CAPT. KD. IIUTCUIXSON. 

Ilon-i S'. 

According to yo'' desires in those Letters from yo'sclf and Jlr 
Richardson, and the others of yC Company (of) y'^ Plantation of ISIar- 
ragansett was included within Connecticott Charter, yet so as it was 
according to the very words of their old charter which was to Narra- 
gansett River, I had onely those words put in for Explication and 
avoiding controversie about the meaning of Narragansett River ; these 
words are added [commonly called Narragansett Bay where the said 
River fjilleth into the Sea] and by what I saw of y" coppy of Provi- 
dence charter the words are these, that the Whole Extent of y" Tract 
was about 25 miles, which by calculation from y" further jxirt of Prov- 
idence would reach but to the Narragansett countrey. 



380 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

After the Charter was under the Greate Sealo and finished Mr 
Clarke then appeared w"' great opposition, as Agent for Road Island 
Collony, he never before made it known to me that he was agent for 
them, nor could I imagine it for a good while after my arriveale heere. 
jMr Alderman Peake told me hee had Received Letters from Road Isl- 
and, with an Address Inclosed, and was desired by those Letters to 
Deliver y° Address, and afterwards told mee he had procured jNIr 
Mandrick to Deliver it. I could not by this conceive they had any 
other Agent, but was resolved in my Businesse to keep to y" words of 
the old Pattent, as neere as might be. I am sorry there should be 
any Controversye between friends. If they had Desired to have 
Joyned w"' our Collony I doubt not but they might have had all 
Equall Liberties with them. IMr Clarke might have done their Busi- 
ness before my arriveall or all y" time since ; I should not have op- 
posed anything therein, and whether he had done any thing, or were 
about it, I did not enquire, but that he hath done nothing in it (if it 
be so) is not through the least act from myselfe ; who only minded 
our Businesse according to a former Grant: And when y' was fin- 
ished then jMr Clarke began to stirr and oppose what he could, w*^'' was 
a great wrong to y'' hindrance of my vo3^age. Why he did not Rather 
act about their Businesse before when hee would have none to oppose, 
or all this time when he should have no opposition from myself or 
any other, but so act onely by making a Controversye after our Busi- 
nesse was finished I know not y" Reason. I desire y to present my 
Remembrances to i\Ir Brentou and ^Ir Arnold and Mr Williams and 
our friends of those parts, and let them know that this is the whole 
truth of the Businesse, however Mr. Clarke may Represent itt to them ; 
they are friends that I alwaj-e did and doe Respect and Love and had 
not the least Intent of wronging them, Intending onely that service 
to the Collony to their old charter w"'' they had purchased At a great 
price, and according to the Desires of yo'selves the Purehasers of that 
in Narragansett. 

I shall not add at present by (but ?) my love and respects to yo'- 
selfe and Mr Smith and the rest of yo"' Company, and Rest 

Your Loveing friend 

John Winthrop. 

Ln" September 2, 1GG2. 

For Capt. Edw. Hutchinson 

at Narragansett. 

III. 

FKOM C.\rT. HUTCHINSON TO MR. WIN'THKOP IN LONDON. 

Boston, IS, 9 in. 1662. 
Honu"' S'. — Wee have Received yo" from London. We thought 
good to send j-ou a copy of what wee sent to Connecticot to consider 



ATHERTON COMPANY CORRESPONDENCE. 381 

of, oncly wee think good to add, y' wee are bold to presume j^ou doe (ijj:^p 
not consider y' what you have procured in y" Charter Reaches the IX. 
Whole of y^ Narragansett Countrey, and Whereas you speake of 25 "TpiT" 
miles wee understand not yo'' meaning, for yo' Pattent and Plimouth U. 
Joyns Reaching both ye Narragansett River, and whereas I\Ir Clarke 
pretends a Pattent, Wee have sent a Coppy of one to the Massachu- 
setts of the same Land dated before theirs w^h answers theirs, and 
wee conceive may give satisfaction. But, however. It is necessary for 
avoyding Contention to jdeld no way to Road Island for they are not 
Rationall. It seems Mr Clarke hath much abused you, but I wonder 
not at it, for their Principles leads them to no better. But for any 
Tract of Land of 25 miles there is not any such Tract, for theire Pat- 
tent is bounded by the Countrey inhabited by the Indians (though 
after there be an expression reaching to Pequod River) j^et the whole 
Countrey of y Narragansett lyes betwixt Pequod River and Provi- 
dence w"'' is Inhabited by Indians, and therefore that Expression is 
no better than a Cheate, for from the outside of Providence bounds to 
Pequod River is at least GO miles taking in all the Indian Countrey 
w"^ they are not to do by their Pattent, therefore if Providence Town- 
ship and Road Island should be granted a Pattent yett y" Countrey 
Inhabited by Indians is Excepted, which is that wee have purchased, 
therefore wee are bold to crave of you to consider w' you yeild to be- 
fore you jeild, and w'ever j^ou doe to Reserve our particular Interest. 
But if y' Providence, Warwick and Road Island should procure a 
Pattent for the Bounds of those 4 Towns to come as far as Warwick 
rails where they now stand, and so goe along by the River pawtucket 
not by the Bay but to Warwick pointe w'' will be about 20 or 25 
miles to Reacli to Boston Line wee should not oppose w"'' is indeed 
more than anything they can pretend claimc to. Thus not further to 
trouble 3'ou wee take our leave and rest 

Yo'' servants to our powers 

Ed. Hutchinson by appointment 

of the Companj-. 

These letters are now for the first time printed. The first is given 
to show the earnestness of the Atherton company to " be freed from 
Rhode Island," whatever else might be their lot, long before the char- 
ters were obtained. It breathes the true spirit of Massachusetts at 
that day, and proposes a series of boundary lines that would annihi- 
late the existence of Rhode Island. It refers to J\fr. Wiuthrop's own- 
ership in the purchase, and closes with the news of the fatal accident 
that terminated the life of their gallant but unscrupulous leader. 
From this time the name by which the company was first commonly 
called in his honor was changed, in general use, to that of the Narra- 
ganset company. 



382 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP. '^^^'^ second letter recites the difficulties which Winthrop encoun- 

IX. tered, chiefly at the hands of Clarke, after lie had obtained the Con- 

^^^ nocticut charter. That he should feel restive under the delay that 
D. Clarke's opposition occasioned was natural, but we see no reason why 
Clarke should have made known his intentions in regard to Rhode 
Island before he was t)bliged to do so by the course of events. He 
was surrounded b}- the agents of adverse interests, who, he had good 
reason to fear, if they faithfully represented their principals, would 
leave no means untried that bitter hostility could suggest, to accom- 
plish the overthroiv of Rhode Island. That influences to this end 
were brought to bear upon Winthrop the first letter shows, and it is 
due to his purity alone, and not to the justice or honesty of his princi- 
pals and advisers, that the worst fears of Clarke were not realized. 
Under such circumstances sound judgment dictated the conduct of the 
Rhode Island agent in keeping his own councils. Winthrop's friendly 
feeling towards Rhode Island is seen at the close of his letter in his 
message to some of her leading men, to whom he says he intended no 
wi'ong, but thought he was doing a service to their old charter, as well 
as to the Xarraganset company, in what he had secured for Connecti- 
cut. There is no reference in this letter to his agreement with Clarke, 
which in fact was not signed till seven months later, but an allusion in 
the next letter, which is the reply of Hutchinson to this one, would 
indicate that some comjiromise between them was already in view, and 
had come to the knowledge of the writer, probably through "Win- 
throp's official correspondence with Connecticut. 

The third letter displays the usual animosity of its authors against 
Rhode Island. It is chiefly valuable as showing, in connection with 
that portion of the preceiling one to which it specially replies, the in- 
accurate notions of both the corresjionding parties concerning the 
courses and distances of the territory in question. It will be seen 
that there is an irreconcilable diflerence between them on this point, 
and hence if either party were correct in his statements the other was 
entirely wrong. Winthroj) is pretty nearly accurate in his distance 
of twenty-five miles " from the further part of Providence to the Nar- 
raganset country," if he means from Xarraganset Bay to Pawcatuck 
river in an east and west course, which is probably what he docs mean, 
as it is upon that basis the agreement was made and the charter of 
Rhode' Island was granted. Hutchinson, on the contrary, is as nearly 
correct in his widely different estimate of distance, taking a north and 
south, or rather a northeast and southwest course from Providence to 
Pawcatuck. So that it is probable the misunderstanding between the 
writers was in regard to the courses rather than the distances. The 
reading of each letter would seem to convey the idea that a north and 
south course was meant in both cases. But if this were so, Winthrop 
was very wide of the mark and Hutchinson pretty nearly correct. 



LETTER FllOM JOHN SCOT. S83 

Another remarkable point in this letter is the allusion to the old ^H^p 
Narraganset patent held by jNIassachusetts, of which a copy appears IX. 
to have been sent by the Atherton company to jMr. Winthrop. The "^^PP^ 
references to this ancient patent are very few, and are almost always D. 
merely incidental, as in this case, as if no great weight was attached 
to it. Why this should be so we cannot tell, but so it is. Every al- 
lusion to the patent of Dec. 10th, 1043, is worthy of notice from this 
peculiarity. In its proper place, chapter iv., this subject is more 
fully considered. 

APPENDIX E. 

LETTER FROM JOHN SCOT, IX LONDON, TO CAPT. HUTCHINSON. 

(from TRLMBULL papers, vol. XXII. XO. 35, MSS. IX MA.SS. UIST. soc.) 



Aivll 29, 1G6.3. 

]Mr. Hutchinson, and my honoured friend. — 

jMr. Winthrop wa.s very averse to my prosecuting yo"" affaires, he 
having had much trouble with Mr. Clarke, whiles he remained in 
England ; but as soone as I received intelligence of his departure from 
y" Downes, I took into the Societye a Potent Gentleman, and pre- 
ferred a Petition against Clarke, &c., as enimyes to the peace and well 
being of his Majestyes good subjects, and doubt not of effecting the 
premises in convenient tyme ; and in order to accomijlish y' businesse, 
I have bought of ]Mr. Edwards a parcel of curiosityes to 3'" value of 
CO : to gratifye persons that are powerfull, that there may be a Letter 
filled with Authorizing Expressions to the Collonyes of the Massa- 
chusetts and Connecticut, that the proprietors of the Naraganset coun- 
trye, shall not onlye live peaceablye, but have satisfaction for Injury es 
already received, by some of the saide Proprietors, and the power 
y' shall be .soe invested (viz.,) the ]\Iasachusets and Coneticott bj^ver- 
tue of the saide letter, will joyntl3^e or severallye have full power to 
doe us Justice to all intents as to our Naraganset concernes. S'. Mr. 
Sam" Sedgwick disburst y"" monyc, the obligation I doubt not of sat- 
isfaction of accordinge to tyme which is by March next and b}^ y' time, 
or long before, I doubt not of satisf^inge yo"' desires, or elce I will 
satisfj^e y" saide Bill to Sedgwick myself. I cannot deeme those termes 
Mr. Winthroi) made with Clarke any waye to answere yo'^ desires, 
were there a certaintye in what Clarke hath granted. 

Yo"' friend and seiwantt 
uncerimoniouslye 

John Scott. 



E. 



384 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

The foregoing letter is the most important evidence 
that has yet been brought to light upon this subject. 
Nothing could more clearly explain the whole conspiracy 
against Clarke, its authors, their plans, and the means 
adopted to accomplish their purpose. Their motive is 
shown in previous letters, the desire " to be freed from 
Ehode Island " in whatever way, and " the way " is here 
explained after the lapse of two hundred years. Parties 
who could adopt such means, '' uncerimoniouslye," in- 
deed, would hesitate at no other degree of baseness to 
shield their crime. AVhy the character of Clarke was 
traduced in every mode that unscrupulous corruption 
could devise, can no longer remain a mystery. That the 
slanders originated by these violators of both moral and 
statute law, and eagerly perpetuated by their sympa- 
thizing brethren in the adjoining colonies, by some, no 
doubt, through ignorance, but by all with a zeal that does 
no honor to their hearts, should now be traced to their 
source after so long an interval, must be gratifying to 
those who have steadily defended the purity of Clarke in 
this matter of the charter, reasoning from his exalted 
character in all the other relations of life. It furnishes 
one more proof of the fact, that the general character of a 
man is no unsafe criterion of his conduct in particular 
circumstances, and that the reputation which he holds in 
his own community is a tolerably safe standard of his real 
character. It thus affords a triumphant vindication of 
what Mr. Quiucy (pamphlet on Grahame, p. 36) is jileased 
to term " a studied eulogy on the general character of 
Clcn'Jce," in Mr. Bancroft's 2d vol. p.. 64, which must be 
grateful to that eminent historian who, in the face of so 
much printed evidence on the other side, has examined 
our records for himself, and in this, as in other disputed 
points, has dared to do Rhode Island justice. 

The letter opens with a striking acknowledgment of 
Winthrop's purity, for although AVinthrop had had diffi- 



scot's infamy exfosed. 385 

culty with Clarke, he was so averse to the writer's scheme, ciiai'. 
that Scot dared not pursue them until Winthrop had .__,J^ 
embarked for America. He then gave an interest in the -^j,!'"- 
company to " a potent gentleman," preferred charges 
against Clarke and his principals as enemies to the crown, 
with what purpose is evident, and, these two points se- 
cured, he doubted not of speedy success. But to render 
assurance doubly sure, he adopts another form of bribery' ' ' 
to apply to other powerful personages, whose taste for cu- 
riosities he supposed to be greater than their sense of right 
or their pride of character, and invests the sum of sixty 
pounds for that purpose. The object of all this nice cal- 
culation was twofold ; to hide his own inflxmy under the 
ruin of Clarke, and to obtain a letter from the King plac- 
ing the Narraganset country under the jurisdiction of the 
United Colonies. No description could be more accurate 
in every item than is here given on the 29th April, of the 
royal letter of the 21st June following. 

Corruption moved apace to farther the plans of Scot. 
In seven weeks the character of Clarke was branded with 
infamy to remote posterity, and the Atherton company 
had accomplished their selfish purposes by a baseness that 
cannot easily be surpassed. We have no clue to the mean- i^ ' '^""^'j. 
ing of the paragraph about Mr. Sedgwick. Possibly it A'j'i£<''''t^ !- ^■''" 
relates to some private matter, but not unlikely it refers '±^' ■ ( \I^l' 
to some other disbursement in connection with this nefa- '' ' 

rious scheme. A letter of this stamp might well be con- 
fined to the one subject of its infamy. It concludes with 
a doubt as to Winthrop's agreement being satisfactory, 
even if Clarke were authorized to make it ; and the last 
word it contains implies the confidential nature of the 
topic and the free and easy character of the writer. " Un- 
ceremoniously " indeed ! A cooler stab at all that an 
honest and honorable man holds most dear, or a clearer 
exposition of successful bribery was never made ; and but 
for the sometimes dangerous habit of preserving private 

VOL. I — 25 



386 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, papers, wliicli Capt. Hutchinson possessed, we might never 
_3^ have known, in this world, the secret and real history of 
^^I'P- this transaction. 

The agreement between the two agents was signed on 
the 7th April. That Winthrop had implicit confidence 
in Clarke's honor is evident from his embarking for home 
immediately afterwards, leaving Clarke, unfortunately for 
the latter as it proved, still in England. The above let- 
ter was written on the 29th April. The King's letter to 
the United Colonies, so accurately predicted and described 
in that of Scot was issued on the 21st of June, and the 
charter of Rhode Island passed the seals on the 8th of 
July. 



TREATY WITH MASSASOIT. 387 



CHAPTEE X. April 

7. 

IGTS— 16T7. 

FROM THE COMMEXCEMEXT OF PHILIP'S WAR, JUNE iCTo, TO THE 
TRIAL OF THE HARRIS CAUSES, NOVEMBER 1677. 

To trace the causes of the most disastrous conflict that ., 
ever devastated New England, it will be necessary to take x. 
a rapid review of the intercourse between the English and 1^20^ 
the Indians from the time of the landing of the Pilgrims. 
Shortly before this event, a pestilence had wasted the 
strength of the natives of this region, and caused them to 
become an easy prey to the martial spirit of the Narragan- 
sets. Soon after their landing, Massasoit, Sachem of the 
Wampanoags, a powerful tribe who had formerly ruled the 
whole country east of Narraganset bay, and extending 
north to the territory of the Massachusetts, but who were 
now, with their dependent tribes, subject to the conquer- iG2L 
ors, made a treaty with the Pilgrims, which he kept in- -^^i^^'^''' 
violate for forty years till the time of his death.' He left 
two sons, Wamsutta, by the English called Alexander, and 

' 111 the ■svmt3r of 16G1-2, Drake's Indians, B. 3, cli. ii. Various dates 
from 1G56 to 1G60 are assigned by diffei-ent authors as the period of the 
death of Massasoit, but the diligence of Drake entitles his opinion to the 
greatest weight, and the reasons given for it in Book 2, ch. ii., p. 28, are con- 
clusive that the death of Massasoit did not occur till later than Sept., 1061. 



38S HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP. Pomctacom or Metacomet, whose Englisli name was Philip. ' 
_:___ The faith with which Massasoit or Ousamequin, as he was 
1G21. also called, maintained the treaty on his side, was not so 
well kept on the other. He qnietly submitted to repeated 
aggressions npon his land and liberties, and besides having 
sold large tracts of territory at various times to the Eng- 
lish, he witnessed the gradual withdrawal of his subject 
tribes to a condition of independence. The fatal alliance 
which had released him from his recent subjection to the 
Narragansets, was destined to place a severer yoke upon 
his own neck, to weaken, instead of strengthening, his in- 
fluence over the subordinate tribes, and finally to eifect the 
extermination of his race. He had several residences, the 
principal of which, in the town of Bristol, was called So- 
wams by tlie Wampanoags, and Pokanoket by the Narra- 
gansets, and by the English Mount Hoj)e. The decay of 
the nation, and the proportionate increase of the English, 
made a deep im])ression upon the minds of the two sons 
of Massasoit. Wamsutta, the elder, succeeded his father, 
1 G G 2. but survived him only a few months. The manner of his 
death added to the sting which the accumulated wrongs 
of forty years had planted in the hearts of Philip and his 
councillors. 

We have seen that Massasoit claimed portions of the 
land of Providence, west of Seeconk river, and that Wil- 
liams and others had satisfied his claims, although the 
Narraganset supremacy was undoubted, and their Sachems 

' The ludiaus ofteu clianged tlu:ir names. Wainsutta was first called 
Mooanam, and later Wamsutta or Sepauquet, both of which latter names are 
signed, together Avith his English name, to the deed of March, 1661-2, to 
Providence men. Any great event in life seems to have given occasion tn 
these changes ; as Massasoit, upon commencing his war against the Narragau- 
sets in 1632, took the name of Ousamequiu, by which he was afterward? 
more generally known. This custom complicates the difficixlties of Indian 
history very much. The English names of Alexander and PhUip were l>e- 
stowed on the two young sachems at Plymouth Court about 1656, although 
Mather says it was not till 1662 when the two sacbems came to Plymouth. 
Morton's Memorial, 286-7, and Drake, Book 3, p. 0. 



WAMSUTTA OR ALEXANDER. 389 

had conveyed a clear title to tlie original purchasers.' chap. 
There is reason for more than suspicion that these claims ^^.^^ 
were instigated by our neighbors, in their desire to possess 1 (5 2. 
themselves of an outlet to Narraganset bay, and that they 
were not well pleased with their faithful ally that he should 
consent to release his pretended right to those who already 
held it from his superiors. AVanisutta was associated 
with his father in the government for some years before the 
death of Massasoit, and joined with him in conveying lands 
to Plymouth.^ Upon the death of his father he became 
the chief Sachem, and conveyed to the town of Providence 
some land on the west of Seeconck river, which had been 
claimed by Massasoit as belonging to the Wampanoags.-- 
This act was never specifically charged against him as the 
cause of the harsh treatment which he received under pre- 
tence of his plotting against the English, and which re- 
sulted in his death ; but in the absence of any proof of the 
truth of those charges, and in view of the murder of Mian- 
tinomi, a few years before, whose greatest crime was his 
Idndness to Gorton, and his having sold Shawomet to the 
" arch-heretic," we are inclined to think that this deed of 
sale was one cause of the prejudice against him. He had 
strengthened his position by marriage with Weetamo, 
squaw sachem of the Pocassets, who inhabited what is now 
Tiverton. This was a step towards restoring the ancient 
unity of the tribes, which was still further effected at a 
later day, by the marriage of Metacomet with the sister 
of Weetamo. 

It was soon after the sale to Providence that "some 
of Boston, having been occasionally at Narraganset, wrote 
to Mr. Prince, who was then Governor of Plymouth, that 
Alexander was contriving mischief against the English, 

- This satisfiiction occurred Sept. 10th, 1646. See ch. iv. ante. 

- March 9th, 1653, these two sachems joined in the sale of a large tract 
including Papasquash neck. Drake, Book 2, p. 27-8. 

^ The deed is dated 12th March, 1661-2, and is given in Staple's Annals, 
p. 571. 



390 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, and that he had soHcited the Narragansets to engage with 
,_i.J._, him in his designed rebellion." ' We know that '' some 
1 G 6 2. of Boston " were at this time anxious to gain possession 
of Karraganset, and also that the Wampanoags claimed 
a portion of that country, and had long had a feud with 
Pundiam about the lands of Shawomet.- These rumors 
furnished sufficient grounds for the arrest of Wamsutta 
upon the charge of conspiracy. Capt. Willet, who resided 
near Mount Hope, was sent to require his presence at the 
next Court at Plymouth. He did not appear, but, it was 
said, continued his intercourse with the Narragansets, 
Upon this, Governor Prince despatched Major Josiah 
Winslow, afterwards governor, with a small force, to seize 
Alexander and bring him to Plymouth. Winslow found 
him at one of his hunting stations, a few miles distant, and 
captured him without resistance, although the anger of the 
Sachem at this interference obliged the Major to adopt the 
same resolute means resorted to by Atherton in his visit 
to Pessicus twelve years before, and to present a pistol at 
his breast. The Sachem yielded, and with his whole train 
of warriors and women, some eighty in number, vvdio were 
allowed to accompany him, was carried a prisoner towards 
Plymouth, and stopped at AVinslow's house in Marshfield. 
Here the haughty chieftain, under the combined effects of 
rage, fatigue and heat, was taken ill. The day Avas very 
hot, and although Winslow offered his horse to the Sachem, 
it was gallantly declined, because there were none for his 
squav/ or the other women to ride. On account of his 
sickness, his attendants entreated that he might be sent 
home. This was granted upon his i)romise to appear at 
the next Court, and meanwhile to send his son as a host- 
age. But his death ensued almost immediately. Hub- 
bard says he " died before he got half way home." ' 

' Increase Matlier's Relation, p. 70. .' ' ' '■ ' 

- President R. Williams' letter to yiass., May, 1656. Knowles, 290. 
^ Hubbard's Narrative, London, 1G77, p. 10. Mather's Relation, p. 70-1 
See also Davis's Morton, 287-P, note, and Drake's Lidians, Book 3, p. 6-1). 



PURITAN DEALINGS WITH THE INDIANS. 391 

Thus ended the brief and bitter reign of Wamsutta, chap. 
the eldest son and successor of the earliest and firmest ^_, 
friend of the Pilgrims. Dr. Mather, in the passage before 1 6 (5 2. 
cited, accuses Alexander of not being " so faithful and 
friendly to the English as his father had been." Forty 
years had changed the condition of the tribe. They were 
no longer in fear of the Narragansets, from whose power 
old Massasoit had sought refuge in a friendly alliance witli 
the white man. Yet during his own life, he had more than 
once been called on to explain his conduct. Their jealousy 
of the natives was natural in view of the immense dispar- 
ity of numbers between them ; but had their care in pre- 
serving the terms of treaties been as great as was that of 
their savage allies ; had there been less of the old theo- 
cratic spirit of dominion, "" the saints shall judge the world " 
— ' we are the saints,' and more of the religion they pro- 
fessed, in their dealings with the red man ; had there been 
the same strict regard to the letter and spirit of their 
agreements that was shown upon the other side ; or had 
the temper of the founders of Rhode Island, in their inter- 
course with the aborigines, been displayed by the other col- 
onies, there would have been less occasion, perhaps none at 
all, for the alarms that so often distracted New England, 
and the hope of the old Canonicus would have been real- 
ized, " that the English and my posterity shall live in love 
and peace together." The jealousy with which the Puri- 
tan colonies regarded the powerful Sachems around them, 
was signally displayed towards those who showed kindness 
to any whom they had placed under the ban of proscrip- 
tion. The style of their negotiations with Canonicus, the 
clerico-judicial murder of Miantinomi, the savage treatment 
of Pessicus, and now the unfeeling harshness that hastened 
the death of Wamsutta, are examples of this, which it is 
in vain that the Puritan writers attempt to justify or ex- 
plain. That Major Winslow conducted himself with cour- 
tesy towards his royal captive, or that the best medical at- 



392 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, tendance and careful nursing- was obtained for him in liis 
^.J^^l,^ illness, does not palliate the manner of his arrest, or miti- 
1 6 2. gate the insult offered to a sovereign prince upon his na- 
tive soil. Nor did the peculiar allies of the Puritans es- 
cape the frequent e\'idence of their displeasure. Uncas, 
their willing tool, Pumhani, their ahject slave, and even 
old Massasoit their most faithful friend, were often called 
])efore their severe tribunals, to answer for suspected trea- 
son or alleged misconduct. One cardinal error prevailed 
in all their treatment of the Indians. They regarded the 
submission of the tril)es to the British crown, always cheer- 
fully and often voluntarily made, as being an act of sub- 
jection to themselves. Nothing could be farther from the 
intention of these haughty Sachems. Kepeatedly they 
asserted that they were the allies, not the subjects, of the 
colonists ; but tlie latter, taking the servility of Pum- 
ham, himself a renegade, as the type of the conduct they 
desired from all, insisted upon a like submission from his 
superiors, and when this was denied, they construed the at- 
titude of equality into an act of hostility, and busied them- 
selves in conjecturing i)lots where none existed. This was 
a certain method of producing the result they so much 
dreaded. What was only suspected in regard to Wam- 
sutta was clearly proved, a dozen years later, in the case 
of Metacomet. 

The treatment of Alexander was openly condemned, 
even among the Puritans, fir its harshness and impolicy, 
although their own conduct towards Miantinomi had Iteen 
if possible, yet more unjustifiable. Upon the savages, it 
produced a deep and lasting influence. They did not hes- 
itate to charge the English with having poisoned their 
victim. False as this accusation was, it was less unjust 
than the act upon which it was grounded. Weetamo, the 
widow, although she subsequently soothed her sorrows by 
a second marriage with an Indian of lower rank, never for- 
gave the death of her royal husband, but secretly nursed 



METACOMET OR KING PHILIP. 393 

her feelings of revenge, and gave currency among the 
tribes to the story of English perfidy. 

Metacomet, or King Philij) as he was now called, suc- 
ceeded his brother as chief Sachem of the Wampanoags, 
Being sent for by the Court at Plymouth, he appeared and 
renewed the treaty of amity with the English. He was a 
prince as politic in counsel, as ho was undaunted in war, 
and he was a man too high-spirited tamely to submit to 
private injuries or public wrongs, without seeking the 
means of redress. His designs required concealment until 
they could ripen into a general union of all the tribes 
against the English. There were local jealousies to ap- 
pease, and ancient rivalries to adjust, for which time and 
diplomacy were requisite. Meanwhile he preserved, in a 
measure, the same friendly aspect to the colonists that his 
lather had done ; and even after the demonstrations that 
had led to the first disarming of the Indians, and to the 1 6 6 7. 
subsequent alarms in Plymouth, he freely made a treaty, 
confessing his fault, and agreeing to surrender all his guns, ^Ym-il' 
to be kept by the English so long as they saw fit. But 10. 
seventy of them were given up. Strange Indians contin- 
ued to resort to Mount Hope. The Court of Plymouth 
again sent for Philip to require his presence. He, with 
his counsellors, chanced to be in Boston when news of this 
order was received there, and so favorably did he state his 
case that the government of Massachusetts suggested to 
Plymouth, that instead of commencing hostilities as threat- 
ened, that colony should refer the disjmte to the arbitra- 
tion of the other colonies. When the mediators met at Sei)t. 
Plymouth, Philip signed an agreement to pay one hundred 
pounils Avithin three years, and five w^olves' heads annually 
to that colony, to refer to them all disputes between his 
tribe and the English, and neither to sell lands nor to make 
war without their consent. This was a forced arrange- 
ment on the part of the Sachem, made under the alter- 
native of war for which he was not yet prepared. That he 



394 HISTOEY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP. SO considered it, is evident from his remarkable reply to Mr. 
,_J1^__, John Borden of Ehodc Island, an intimate friend of Philip, 
10 7 4. who, when the war was about to commence, attempted to 
dissuade him from it by urging the reciprocal benefits that 
would result from j)eace. " The English who came first 
to this country were but an handful of jjeople, forlorn, 
poor, and distressed. My father was then Sachem. He 
reheved their distresses in the most kind and hosj)itable 
manner. He gave them land to build and plant upon. 
He did all in his power to serve them. Others of their 
own countrymen came and joined them. Their numbers 
rapidly increased. My father's counsellors became uneasy 
and alarmed lest, as they were possessed of firearms, which 
was iiot the case with the Indians, they should finally un- 
dertake to give law to the Indians, and take from them 
their country. They therefore advised him to destroy 
them before they should become too strong, and it should 
be too late. My father was also the father of the English. 
He represented to his counsellors and warriors that the 
English knew many sciences Avhich the Indians did not ; 
that they improved and cultivated the earth, and raised 
cattle and fruits, and that there was sufficient room in the 
country for both the English and the Indians. His advice 
prevailed. It was concluded to give victuals to the Eng- 
lish. They flourished and increased. Exj^erience taught 
that the advice of my father's counsellors was right. By 
various means they got possessed of a great part of his ter- 
ritory. But he still remained their friend till lie died. 
My elder brother became Sachem. They pretended to 
suspect him of evil designs against them. He was seized 
and confined, and thereby thrown into sickness and died. 
Soon after I became Sachem they disarmed all my })eople. 
They tried my people by their own laws, and assessed dau}- 
ages against them Avliich they could not pay. Their land 
was taken. At length a line of division was agreed upon 
between the Enghsh and my peojjle, and I myself was to 



EXTENSIVE INDIAN PLOT. 395 

• 

be responsible. Sometimes tlie cattle of tlie English cifai'. 
would come into the cornfields of my people, for they did ._iX^ 
not make fences like the English. I must then be seized 167 4. 
and confined till I sold another tract of my country for 
satisfaction of all damages and costs. Thus tract after 
tract is gone. But a small part of the dominion of my 
ancestors remains. I am determined not to live till I have 
no country." ' Tliis is the preamble to a declaration of 
war, more striking from its origin, and more true in its 
statements, than any with which we are acquainted. It is 
the mournful summary of accumulated wrongs that cry 
aloud for battle, not for revenge alone, but for the very ex- 
istence of the oppressed. It is the sad note of preparation, 
sounded by a royal leader, that summons to their last con- 
flict the aboriginal lords of New England. It is the death 
song -of Metacomet, chanted on the site of his ancestral 
home, before plunging into the fatal strife that was to end 
only with his life, and to seal for ever the fortunes of his 
race. 

The fact that tlie war broke out before the conspii-acy 
was complete, has caused some historians to doubt whether 
there was really any concerted design among the Indians : 
but the evidence of Col. Church, in his interviews with 
Awashonks and Weetamo, queens of Seaconnet and Po- 
casset, appears conclusive of Philip's intrigues in that 
direction, while other cotemporary vv'riters adduce the testi- 
mony of captives, taken at Hadley and elsewhere, to show 
that the plot embraced the remoter Indians of the Con- 
necticut liiver, as well as the powerful tribe of the Narra- 
gansets. An event that precipitated the war probably 
averted the utter destruction of the English, by distracting 
the yet incomplete alliance of the Indians. Sausaman, 
one of Mr. EUiot's "^n-aying Indians," a man of unstable 
mind, after being educated at the college, and employed 
as a teacher at Natick, returned to savage life, and re- 

' Foster papers. MSS., vol. ix. last page. 



396 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, niained for many years with Philip as his secretary and 
.„i^l^ chief counsellor. The persuasions of Elliot induced him 
I'j'^'^- to abandon Philij^, and resuming civilized habits, he be- 
came a preacher. Being thrown in company with some 
1 G 7 5. of his old companions, he discovered the plot that was 
forming against the English. This he made known to 
Governor Leveret. He was soon afterwards murdered, as 
a betrayer of his tribe. Three Indians who committed 
the deed were seized and executed at Plymouth. Philip 
expected his own arrest as the instigator of the crime. 
Enraged at his subjects being thus tried by English laws 
for fulfilling his commands, in executing the vengeance 
denounced by Indian custom against all traitors — that 
they should suifer death, and determined not to submit 
to the indignity of personal violence, Philip mustered his 
warriors and commenced to scour the country in all direc- 
tions. His forces rapidly increased by accessions from the 
neighboring tribes, and at length the border town of Swau- 
~"' zcy received the first blow in this sanguinary war. Houses 
oi were robbed and cattle killed. Eour days later the mas- 
sacre commenced. Nine of the inhabitants were slain and 
seven wounded. The troops of Plymouth marched at once 
oci_ to the defence of Swanzcy. Forces were also despatched 
from Boston, who attacked the Indians and drove them to 
29. a swamp. The next day other troops arrived, the whole 
were placed under the command of Major Savage, and 
marched into the Indian country to break up the head 
quarters of Philip at Mount Ho})e. The savages fled be- 
fore them leaving the traces of their retreat in burning 
buildings, and the heads and hands of slaughtered English 
stuck u})()n poles by the wayside, but not an Indian could 
be seen. The wigwams were found deserted, with evident 
marks of haste. A few prowling dogs were the only ves- 
tiges of life that remained. A fort was thrown uji at 
Mount Hope, much against tlie advice of Church, ajid a 
small garrison left to guard it. The enemy had crossed 



church's fight at fogland ferry. 397 

over to PocassGt wliere it was now proposed by Mr., after- chap. 
wards Colonel, Clmrch to follow them.' With a small _:3:_ 
band of volunteers, he readily attempted the daring exploit. 10 75. 
Having, previous to the war, negotiated with the squaw 
sachems of the two tribes in that vicinity, he hoped, on 
this account, to withdraw their men from the alliance with 
Philip. Crossing over to Rhode Island, he there found 
boats to transport him the next night to Pocasset, where 
the party laid in ambush for the Indians, but in vain. 
The next day they followed the trail south, to a point near ~ 
Fogland ferry, where they were attacked by a greatly su- 
perior force. The skirmish continued for six hours till the 
English ammunition was nearly spent, when a sloop from 
Rhode Island came down and relieved them from their per- 
ilous condition. They returned to the garrison at Mount 
Hope. 

It was of vital importance to prevent an oifensive al- 
liance between Philip and the Narragansets, for it was said 
that the latter had promised to join him in the s})ring with 
four thousand warriors. Commissioners were sent to treat 



' There were many men who distinguished themselves by their courage 
and address in the coui-se of this war, but none more so than Col. Benjamin 
Church. lie was the first English settler at Seaconnet, now Little Compton, 
then filled with Indians, and was just commencing his plantation when the 
war broke out. He thoroughly understood the Indian character, and their 
partisan mode of warfare, which latter he adopted with great success in the 
siibscquent struggle. His conquests were conducted with more humanity 
than was displayed by many of his colleagues, while his courage and military 
skill were conspicuous. He was to Rhode Island what Miles Staudish had 
been to the first generation of Plymouth colonists — a buckler and shield in 
the hour of danger ; but he had far more experience iu military affairs than 
fell to the lot of the Pilgrim. captain. It was destined for him to strike the 
first and the last decisive blows in Philip's war, by which he is now best 
known to fame. So great was the reputation he gained, that he was after- 
wards constantly called to the field to repel the French and Indians at the 
north and east. He served in no less than five expeditions against Canada 
and Maine, as commander-in-chief of the colonial forces sent out by the royal 
Governors of New England. The first time was at the request of Sir Ed- 
mund Andres, in 1689; again in 1G90 by Hinckley ; then in 1G92 he was 



398 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

with them, and the Massachusetts troops marclied into 
their country to enforce the terms that might be dictated. 
They found the villages in Pumham's district deserted. 
He had shaken off his English shackles, and joined with his 
countrymen against the common foe. Some days were 
spent in negotiating with the sachems before the articles 
of agreement were concluded. These required the sur- 
render of any of Philip's subjects who might come in their 
]iower, stipulated rewards for such surrender, declared war 
against him, agreed that stolen goods should be restored, 
confirmed all former grants of land and agreements made 
with the United Colonies, pledged perpetual peace, and 
granted hostages for the full performance of all the arti- 
cles. It was a forced affair throughout, calculated to irri- 
tate rather than to appease the Narragansets, and justly 
regarded by them as no longer binding when the restraint 
that compelled it was removed. 

Meanwhile the war raged with great fury. In all di- 
rections the mangled corpses and burning towns of the 
English bespoke the relentless wrath and ceaseless ac- 

comnii.-sioneil Ly Sii' Willuita Pliipps ; next in IGOO, by Staugliton, and final- 
ly in the sixty-fiftli year of his age lie was urged hy Gov. Dudley in 1704, to 
command the forces for the fifth time sent out against the French, and ac- 
cepted. That no brilliant acts were ijerformod in these expeditions, cither by 
the English fleet or the New h'ngland forces is to be ascribed to the nature of 
the country. Operations were mostly conducted on the coast of Maine and 
Nova Scotia, a. vast wilderness, where security to the enemy was certain and 
pursuit was vain. Col. Church died January 17th, 1717-18, in his seventy- 
eighth year. The history of his wars was ^\Titten by his son Thomas before 
his father's death, and a Latin ode by his grandson, at the close of the me- 
moir, attests the scholarship of his descendants. Some branches of the fam- 
ily have settled in different parts of the State, or moved elsewhere, but many 
of the direct descendants of the old hero still reside in Little Corapton, where 
they preserve the position and the patrimonial estates inherited from their il- 
lustriovis ancestor. Gov. AVinslow in his letter to the King, June 26th, 1G77, 
accompanying presents of the spoils of Philip, " being his Crowne, his Gorge 
and two Belts of their own making of their goulde and silver taken from him 
by Capt. Benjamin Church," speaks of Church as " a person of great loyalty, 
and the most successful of our commanders." The original letter is in the 
British State Paper Office. New England papers, vol. iii. p. IG. 



REPULSE OF THE ENGLISH AT POCASSET. 399 

tivity of the omnipresent foe. We cannot follow these chap. 
bloody chronicles in all their details of destruction, but .-^.J^ 
must pass rapidly over the field, touching only upon the ■^y'T'^" 
prominent points of the war, or on those which had a spe- 
cial reference to this colony. Khode Island was not a 
member of the New England confederacy, and therefore 
not bound to take part in hostilities provoked by the other 
colonies. She disapproved of the war, which, from her 
exposed situation, threatened her very existence. The 
government too was in the hands of the Quakers, yet she 
did what she could, in an nnoflficial way, to aid the English 
with provisions and volunteers, and to protect herself. 
Her inaction was perhaps the reason why she suffered less 
than her neighbors at the beginning, but the case was 
changed when her own territory became the battle-ground.^ 
Upon the return of the troops to Tauntou, they found 17 
that Philip had fortified himself in a swamp at Pocasset. 
Joining with the Plymouth forces, the army marched to 
the attack, and were repulsed with some loss. It was an IS. 
unfortunate affair, for it strengthened the firm and con- 
firmed the wavering natives, and thus completed a gen- 
eral rising in behalf of Philip. He withdrew from the 
swamp, effected a skilful manoeuvre in the passage of 
Taunton river, accompanied by Weetamo who was ever at 
his side, and hastened to join the Nipmucks, who had al- 
ready taken arms against the English. Plymouth was thus 
for awhile relieved, and the burden of the war transferred 
to Massachusetts. Brookfield was burnt, and Captain Aug. 
Hutchinson with twenty mounted men was defeated with ^• 
the loss of half his troop, and himself mortally wounded. 
The Connecticut river Indians were fully enlisted in the 

' Htibbard, in the table of assaults at the end of his naiTative, says that 
eighteen houses were burnt at Pi-ovidence, June 2Sth, 1G75, and that on 29tli 
March following, fifty-four houses were there destroyed. The latter statement 
is correct, but we can lind no verification of the former, which is probably an 
error. 



400 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, war, and committed fearful ravages upon the defenceless 
■^' towns. Hatfield, Hadley, Deerfield, and Nortlifield were 
1 G 7 5. successively attacked, many of tlie inhabitants slain, and 
' *"^^ ■ the houses destroyed. These devoted villages were des- 
tined to feel still further the horrors of savage warfare. 
The commissioners of the United Colonies, whose union, 
at one time almost abandoned, had of late been revived, 
9. reviewed the causes of the war, gave it their oificial ap- 
proval, and adopted the expenses of conducting it as a 
just charge to be paid proportionably by the confederates. 
]2. The slaughter of Capt. Beers, with a troop of twenty 

men near Northfield, was followed by the defeat of Capt, 
Lathrop with a corps of young men, " the flower of the 
county of Essex," who were attacked by a force of seven 
or eight hundred Indians, near Hadley, and almost the 
whole party, including their leader, were cut off. This 

18. was the greatest loss the country had yet sustained. 
Nearly one hundred of the best troops of Massachusetts 
fell in this unequal fight. The English had not yet be- 
come accustomed to the Indian mode of warfare. Their 
small detachments could stand no chance against the 
lurking savage, in the deep forests and dense swamps of 
the country. The commissioners now ordered an army 
of one thousand men to be raised, one-half to be heavy 
dragoons. Springfield was the next object of attack. 

^ ^ Near this town the Indians had a fort, into which some 
Oct- ' . T ^ 

three hundred of Philip's warriors were received the night 

before the assault was made. The town was partly 

5- burned, when the arrival of Major Treat w^ith a body of 

Connecticut troops saved the inhabitants from a general 

massacre by dispersing the assailants. For his gallantry 

on this and other occasions, Maior Treat was offered the 

14- J ^' 

command of all the Connecticut troops, by the Assembly 
of that colony. A second attack was made upon Hat- 
field, where there was now a garrison, by a body of eight 

19. hundred Indians, who surrounded the town. It was a fu- 



THE NARKAGANSETS JOIN IN THE WAR. 401 

rious l)ut uasiicccssfiil assault. Major Treat with bis ciiAr. 
field force, and the neighboring garrisons, coming to the ^^^ 
relief of the besieged, the Indians were repulsed with 10 7 5. 
great loss, and became so discouraged that the greater 
part retired to Narraganset, and Massachusetts, in her 
turn, was for a time relieved from peril, except only from 
the small marauding bands that lingered within her bor- 
ders. 

The General Assembly of Ehode Island, acting upon ' 27. 
the petition of Capt. Cranston, referred the defence of the 
colony to the councils of war established in the several 
towns, whose decisions were to be absolute. The ISTarra- 
gansets gave a cordial reception to the hostile Indians, 
in violation of the compulsory treaty of July, and were 
more than suspected of having taken an active part in 
the recent battles, for some of their young men had re- 
turned home wounded. The United Colonies resolved to 12. 
send an army of a thousand men to attack them in their 
winter-quarters, and thus to prevent their openly joining 
with Philip in the spring, an event that must have been 
most disastrous to the English. The haughty reply of 
Canonchet, son and successor of Miantinomi, and chief 
sachem of the Narraganscts, made to the English when 
they sent to demand the surrender of Philip's Indians, 
who had placed their women and children under his pro- 
tection, displayed the spirit of the royal savage, and cut 
ofi" all hopes of peace. " Not a Wampanoag, nor the 
paring of a Wampanoag's nail, shall be delivered up," 
was the answer of the indignant sachem. All attempts 
at reconciliation were henceforth abandoned, and the colo- 
nies prepared for their last appeal to the stern arbitra- 
ment of arms. Massachusetts was to raise five hundred 
and twenty-seven men, Plymouth one himdred and fifty- 
eight, and Connecticut three hundred and fifteen. The 
latter colony exceeded her quota, and sent three hundred 
English and one hundred and fifty friendly Indians, Mo- 
voL. I. — 26 



402 HISTORY OF TEE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, liegans and Pequots, so that the whole force numbered 

^^ eleven hundred and thiity-five, besides volunteers from 

1 (i 7 5. RhoJe Island, many of whom joined the army as it marched 

2 through Providence and Warwick to the scene of action. 

When all was ready a solemn fast was held, before setting 

out on the expedition. 

Strange to say, this enterprise was undertaken by the 
United Colonies without consulting the government of 
Rhode Island, although the express command of the 
King, embodied in the royal charter, was in these words : 
" It shall not be lawful for the rest of the Collouies to 
invade or molest the native Indians, or any other inhab- 
itants, inhabiting within the bounds and lymitts hereaf- 
ter mentioned (they having subjected themselves unto us, 
and being by us taken into our speciall protection), with- 
out the knowledge and consent of the Governour and 
Company of our Collony of Ehode Island and Provideuce 
Plantations." The Narragansets had always been friendly 
to Ehode Island, and although portions of the tribe might 
engage in the war, the greater part were still subject to 
her restraint ; and whether they were so or not, the at- 
tack now made upon them, contrary to the advice and 
without the consent of Ehode Island, was a direct viola- 
tion of the royal order, an unscrupulous disregard of the 
rights, and a wanton act of indifference to the welfare of 
a sister colony, which no exigency of State could excuse, 
since the remedy v,'as easy, involving only a simple act of 
courtesy or friendship. But these feelings were strangers 
to the confederated Puritans, l»y wdiom heathens and her- 
etics were classed together as l)cneatli the regard of Chris- 
tian fellowship.' The invasion of the Narragansets was 
kindred in spirit with the desertion of Ehode Island after 
the battle, leaving Providence a prey to the fury of sav- 
ages, without a garrison to protect lier from enemies whom 
they had roused against her. 

' Easton's Nan-ative, jip. 27-31. Albany, 1858. 



THE WAR EXTENDS TO EHODE ISLAND. 403 

The Massachusetts troops left Boston under command chap. 
of Major Ajjjoleton ; those of Plymouth Avere led by Ma- ._^;_, 
jor Bradford, and the Connecticut troops by Major Treat. 1 <J " 5- 
The whole army was divided into thirteen companies of ^^' 
infantry and one of cavalry, and placed under the com- 
mand of Gov. Winslow of Plymouth. Captain Church 
rode in the General's guard as a volunteer. We have no 
means of ascertaining the number of recruits that joined 
the expedition from this colony. It must have been con- 
siderable, for the people were roused to a full sense of the ' 
mortal struggle at hand by the massacres wdiich had al- 
ready commenced, and although the government took no 
direct part, yet they had placed the full power in the 
hands of the councils of war. Bull's garrison house in 
South Kingston was attacked, fifteen persons were slain 
and but two escaped. This was the first overt act of Avar 
Avithin the limits of Rhode Island. The precise day is 15 
not stated in the chronicles of the time, but is probably 
that Avhicli we affix. The Connecticut troops expected 
to find shelter at Pettaquamscot, but on their arriA^al 
found the buildings destroyed and the inhabitants butch- 
ered. The next day they joined the other forces, and the jg^ 
whole army encamped that night in the open air. The 
AATather AA^as cold and stormy." At the dawn of the Sab- 19. 
bath morning they took up their line of march towards 
the strong fort of the Narragansets, fifteen miles distant. 
This fort occupied a rising groimd, some three or four 
acres in extent, in the centre of a dense swamp, about 
seven miles west from Narraganset south ferry. It Avas 
just one o'clock when they reached the scene of action, 
wearied by a long march through the snow. A renegade . 
Indian whom they found at the edge of the swamp served 
as a guide to the fort. The position was a very strong 
one, well fortified with palisades and brcastAvorks, and en- 
closed by an impenetrable hedge. The single narroAv en- 
trance Avas flanked by a block house, Avhence a murderous 



17. 



404 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF EH ODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, fire was poured upon the advancing Englisli. No less 
^^l.^ than six of the captains, witli a hxrge number of men, fell 
1 C 7 5. in tlie first assanlt. The entrance was choked with the 
29 ■ bodies of the slain. Over the mangled corpses of their 
comrades the desperate assailants climbed the logs and 
breastwork to effect an entrance. The struggle on either 
side was one for life. Whichever j)arty triumphed there 
was no hope of quarter to the vanquished. Christian and 
savage fought alike with the fury of fiends, and the sanc- 
tity of a New England Sabbath was broken by the yells 
of conflict, the roar of musketry, the clash of steel, and 
all the demoniac passions which make a battle-ground an 
earthly hell. It was the great conflict of New England. 
A century was to roll by before the sons of the Puritans 
were again to witness upon their own soil so fierce a strug- 
gle. The carnage was immense. The acts of personal 
daring performed upon both sides were worthy of a Avider 
field of fame. The English were at one time repulsed. 
For three hours the battle raged and the result was yet 
doubtful, until an entrance was in some way cfiected in 
the rear of the fort by a reserve guard of the Connecticut 
troops. The Indians, who were all engaged at the first 
point of attack, were surprised and confused by a heavy 
fire in their rear. Their powder was nearly consumed, 
still their arrows rained a deadly shovrer upon the charging 
foe. The wigwams within the fort were set on fire, con- 
trary to Ihe earnest entreaty of Church, whose military 
forecast discerned the importance of shelter to the ex- 
hausted conquerors. The tragedy of the Pequots was 
thus re-enacted upon their ancient enemies. Humanity 
and policy alike sustained the advice of the gallant Churcli, 
but it was too late. The infuriated troops had already 
commenced the work of destruction. In a few minutes 
the frail material of five hundred Indian dwellings fur- 
nislied the funeral pyre of sick and wounded, infant and 



THE GREAT SWAMP FIGHT. 405 

aged. The blazing homes of the Narragansets lighted 
their path to death. 

The victory was dearly bought. Accounts of the 
losses on both sides differ widely. The entire loss of the 
Indians, in killed, wounded, and prisoners, was not less than * 
one thousand, of whom at least three hundred perished 
in the flames and as many more in the fight. The Eng- 
lish loss is variously estimated from two to four hundred, 
including a majority of the superior officers who fell lead- 
ing the assault. More than one-half of this number 
might have been saved had the advice of Church been 
adopted. He was himself severely wounded, and with his 
suffering comrades was the next day carried over to Rhode 
Island, and there carefully attended until recovery. But 
the jDcriod of most intense suffering to the combatants 
was yet to come. When the night closed over the field 
of blood there was no shelter for victors or vanquished. 
The fort was a smouldering ruin. The Indians escaped 
to an open cedar swamp near by, where many perished 
without food or covering on that fearful night. Still 
worse was the fate of the English. They had taken a 
weary march of some fifteen miles, through deep snow, 
since daybreak, without halting for food, and had 
spent the remainder of the day in desperate conflict. 
They had now to retrace their steps in the dark, through 
a dense forest, w^itli a deep suijw beneath their feet and a 
December storm howling around them. By the glare of 
burning wigwams they formed their line of march, and 
bearing away their dead and wounded, their retreat was 
soon covered by the darkness of the forest. It was two 
o'clock at night before they reached their camping ground. 
The cold was severe. Many died on the march. The 
limbs of the w^ounded were stiffened, fatigue had disabled 
the rest, there was no shelter or provisions of any sort, 
and when the morning dawned death had done a melan- 20. 
clioly work. A heavy snow storm during the night had 



406 HISTOKY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, wraj^ped many a brave soldier in his Avinding-sliect, The 
^^^^^ survivors could hardly move from the depth of the new 
16 75. fallen snow. The ju'ovidential arrival of a vessel with 
■ provisions, in the course of the night, at Smith's landing, 
o,) « alone saved the remnant of that gallant army from de- 
struction. The Connecticut troops were so disabled that 
Major Treat led them home to recruit. The other forces 
scoured the country during the winter, cutting off the 
Indian su]iplies or straggling parties, and burning their 
wigwams, but did nothing decisive. The Narragansets 
returned to their ruined fort but no attempt was made to 
dislodge them. 

By some it is supposed that Philip was himself in the 
fort during the battle, while others state that he was not. 
It is, however, certain that his winter-quarters were with 
the Narragansets, and that soon after the fight the In- 
k;7.-,.(;. dians sued for peace, but their overtures were rejected 
through, distrust. The remnant of the English army gar- 
risoned at AVickford. A reinforcement of one thousand 
men Avas soon sent from Boston, So intense was the cold 
at this time that eleven of their number were frozen to 
death on the march, and many others were disabled by 
sickness. 

Philip removed his camp some twenty miles north to 
a rocky swamp in the Nipmuck country. The distress of 
the Narragansets for the want of provisi(jns, all their win- 
ter stores having been destroyed in the battle, was ex- 
treme. A protracted and unusual thaw at midwinter, by 
enabling them to obtain roots,' relieved their wants. The 
army, now sixteen hundred strong, the Connecticut troops 
having returned, proceeded to dislodge Philip from his 
new position. The peoi)le of Warwick made arrange- 
o(3 ments to entertain the army as they should march through 
that place. It was the last town meeting held there for 

' " Ground nuts," as they are called Ly tlie old writers, meaning the wild 
artichoke, a staple article of lood with the Indians. 



■fai! 



THE WAR BECOMES GENERAL. 407 

fifteen months. The place, left defenceless by the retiring ciiap. 

army, was abandoned, and the inhabitants took refnge on ^; 

the island, where their town mectin2;s were res-ularly held, 1'>7.'5-g. 

. . ° Jan 

as if at home, for the choice of deputies and jurors. The 

town vras annihilated for the time, but the corporation 
survived, and continued to discharge its legitimate func- 
tions. The Indians fled at the approach of the English, 27. 
and retreated northward, driving off the live stock from 
Warwick. The army pursued them but a few miles, and Fel). 
soon after returned home and was disbanded. By this '^' 
memorable campaign the power of the Narragansets was 
broken for ever. But the war was not ended, nor scarcely 
checked. It could not be, so long as the master-spirit of 
Philip survived. He went on an expedition to the Mo- 
hawks to ol)tain ammunition, and to secure if possible 
their alliance against the common enemy. The war was 
again transferred mainly to Massachnsetts, but became 
more general than before. Everywhere the burning 
towns and mangled bodies of the English gave token of 
the relentless foe. Lancaster was burnt, and about forty 10. 
persons killed and captured. Medfield next suffered to 
nearly the sume extent. The boldness of the savages led 
them within about fifteen miles of Boston, where, at 
Weymouth, they burned several houses. The exposed -^• 
condition of Providence led to an urgent call upon the 
governor for help. The reply of the deputy governor ,-,- 
shows the exhausted condition of the colony, and their ut- 
ter inability to support the force asked for, while at the 
same time it tenders to the distressed inhabitants the 
hospitalities of the island as a refuge — an offer of which 
they had speedy occasion to avail themselves. The let- 
ters addressed to Providence and AVarwick by the Grcn- 
eral Assembly, especially convened on account of the war, aj.^j.^.jj 
were to the same effect. I'-i. 

The Indians on the island, above twelve years of age, 
were placed in custody of the whites, and were required 



408 HISTOKY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

to be guarded by day, and to be securely locked up at 
night. A further order was passed, " that no Indian in 
this colony be a slave " — a statute to which we shall again 
refer at the close of the war. An attack Avas now made 
upon Warwick. The town was entirely destroyed excej^t 
one house, built of stone that could not be burnt. Only 
one of the inhabitants was slain. At the north and east 
the Indian ravages were still greater. Six towns in Mas- 
sachusetts ^ were sacked, and more or less wasted by fire, 
and many persons slaughtered during this month. Dis- 
asters in the field were fearful and frequent. Captain 
Wadsworth, with fifty men, marching to the relief of 
1 c; 7 C. Sudbury, was overwhelmed by a large body of Indians, 

oi; and every man slain. The like fate attended Caj)tain 
Peirse with the same nimiber of English and some friendly 
Indians, a few daj^s afterward, near Pawtucket Falls, and 

OS two days later Rehoboth, near which hostilities first be- 
gan, was assaulted, and forty dwellings were burned 
This was the darkest period of the war. Success attended 
the savages on every side. The army had been too soon 
disbanded. The Narragansets, although broken, were not 
beaten in the great swamp fight, and terrible was the 
vengeance they executed far and wide over the land. 
Providence was nearly deserted, leaving it an easy prey 
to the enemy. Less than thirty men remained, as aj)- 
pears by a list, preserved on the records, of those " that 
stayed and went not away." Two places in the town 
had been fortified mainly through the efforts of Roger 
Williams, who, although seventy-seven years of age, ac- 
cepted the commission of captain. A tiadition is pre- 
served, that when tlie enemy approached the town the 
venerable captain went out alone to meet and remonstrate 
with them. '' Massachusetts," said he, " can raise thou- 
sands of men at this moment, and if you kill them, the 

' XortliMDipton, Springfield, Clielmstln-d, Groton, h-uJbuiy, and Marlbo- 
rough. 



BURNING OF PROVIDENCE. NAVAL DEFENCE. 409 

King of England will supply their place as fast as they chap. 
fall." " Well, let them come," was the reply, " we are v^/^ 
ready for them. But as for yon, brother Williams, you I'JTG. 
are a good man ; you have been kind to us many years ; 
not a hair of your head shall he touched."^ The savages 
were true to their ancient friend. He was not harmed, 
but the town was nearly destroyed. Fifty-four houses 
were burned.- The records were saved by throwing them 29. 
from the burning house of John Smith, the miller, then 
town clerk, into his mill-pond. It was the north part of 
the town that was consumed. Within the memory of 
aged persons but recently deceased, the cellar walls of 
some of these houses were still standing, on the east side 
of the road just south of Harrington's lane, or North 
street, the northern limit of the city."^ 

At an adjourned meeting of the Assembly, a flotilla of April 
gun-boats was ordered for the defence of the island. There •^• 
were to be four boats manned by five or six men each, the 
force to be increased if necessary. These were employed 
in constantly sailing round the island to prevent invasion 
from the mainland. Of the size of these boats we have 
no certain knowledge, except that some of them were 
sloops.'' This is the first instance, in the history of the 

' Knowles, 34G, and refei-euces in tho note. 

- Accounts vary as to the number. Some say twenty-nine, other.s thirty, 
and fifty-four. Tlie largest number h probably nearest the fact. The dis- 
crepancy may arise from a distinction made biit not stated, between dwellino-s 
and buildings. There is a difference of one day also in the date of this as- 
sault. The 2i)th and 30tli of March are both assigned by diffei-ont writers. 

^ The venerable John Ilowland, late President of the Rhode Island His- 
torical Society, who died Nov. 5th, 1854, aged ninety-seven years, has often 
pointed cut this spot to the writer, and told him that when he was a boy the 
foujidation walls of several of these buildings were vi-sible. 

* A petition from Wm. Clarke in 1G79, recites that he was " commander 
of one of the .sloops in 1G76," which was taken from him by the government, 
and for which he now asks indemnity. By a letter of Roger Williams in the 
archives of Connecticut, dated 27th June, 1675, it would appear that this 
naval force was composed of sloops, and that it was sent out nearly a year 
before it appears upon our records. Conn. MSS. vol. i. p. 200, in R. I. Hist. 



410 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, colonies, wliere a naval armament was relied upon for de- 
v^^ fence. It was the germ of a fnture Rhode Island sqnad- 
16 76. ron, one centmy later, and of an ultimate American navy. 
I] A classified census of all the people on the island was 

ordered, English, negroes, and Indians, wdth those also who 
had taken refuge there, and the amount of corn and arms 
possessed by each, to he reported in detail to the Assem- 
bly. The record of tliese interesting statistics cannot be 
found. Two heavy cannon were mounted at Portsmouth. 
Sixteen " of the most juditious inhabitants" of the colony 
were desired to attend the sittings of the Assembly, to ad- 
vise with that body " in these troublesome times." 

On the very day these proceedings were had, an event 
took jdace that contributed more than anytliing which had 
yet occurred to put an end to the war. The capture of 
Canonchetjthe leader of the Narragansets, next to that of 
Philip himself, v\'as the most decisive blow. It was he 
who had defeated Capt, Peirse, nine days before, and had 
cut off his entire command. This terrible defeat roused 
tlie United Colonies to more vigorous action. Four com- 
panies of Connecticut volunteers, with three of friendly 
Indians, immediately marched to attack Canonchet. Capt. 
George Denison of Stonington, who led one of the compa- 
nies, was conspicuous for his zeal and bravery. This force 
surprised Canonchet near the scene of Peirse's massacre at 
Pawtucket, and a rout ensued. The Sachem fled, but 
having slipped in wading the river, v\'as overtaken on the 
opposite bank by a Peipiot and surrendered without re- 
sistance. The first Englishman who came up to him was 
a young man named Robert Stanton, who put some ques- 
tions to the royal captive. " You much child! No under- 
stand matters of loar ! Let your brother or chief come. 

Soc. Tlie same appears from Holdcn :iii'I Greene's petition in reply to the 
Massiieliusetts aj;ents. '-The colony of Rhode Island and Providence, did, at 
the request of the other colonies, assist them with several sloops well mamied, 
when the war was hegun in Plymouth colony, to the iitmost they could do, 
and to the great damage of the enemy." Br. S. P. 0. N. Eng., vol. iii. p. 2G. 



DEATH OF CANOXCHET. 411 

Him I iviU answer ! " was the contemptuous reply after re- ciiap. 
garding tlie yoiitli for a moment in silence. His life was ^^^^ 
offered him on condition of the submission of his tribe. 10 7G. 
He treated the offer with calm disdain, and when it was "' ^'^' ' 
urged upon him, desired " to hear no more about it." He 
was sent in charge of Capt. Deuison to Stonington, where a 
council of war condemned him to be shot. When inform- 
ed that he must die, he made this memorable answer, 
which may challenge the loftiest sentiment recorded in 
classic or modern history. "/ like it well ; I shall die 
before my heart is soft, or I have said any thing umvorthy 
of myself." His conduct on this occasion has been justly 
compared with that of Eegulus before the Koman Senate, 
than which the chronicles of time present but one sublimer 
scene. A higher type of manly character, more loftiness of 
spirit, or dignity of action, the qualities that make heroes 
of men, and once made demigods of heroes, than are found 
in this western savage, may be sought in vain among the 
records of pagan heroism or of Christian fortitude. To 
ensure the fidelity of the friendly tribes, by committing 
them to a deed that would for ever deter the Narragansets 
from seeking their alliance, it was arranged that each of 
them should take a part in the execution. Accordingly 
the Pequots shot him, the Mohegans cut off his head and 
quartered him, and the Niantics, who under Ninigret had 
joined the English, burned his body, and sent his head as 
" a token of love " and loyalty to the commissioners at 
Hartford. Thus perished the foremost of Philip's cap- 
tains, and the last great Sachem of the Narragansets ! 

The death of Governor Winthrop of Connecticut was a 5 
severe loss to New England. Khode Island had good rea- 
son to mourn his decease, for his inflexible justice would 
not assent to. the spurious claims set up by his own colony 
in the Narraganset country, even while he was their chief 
magistrate. His personal qualities had endeared him in his 
youth to the people of Pihode Island, so that he was urged 



20. 



412 HISTORY OF TPIE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, to move liitlier and become the governor. The conduct of 
.^^^J^ his later years had served to confirm the esteem in which he 
1 6 76. was held, and now his death left Ehode Island without an 
influential friend in the councils of her ambitious neighbor. 
Within a few days a still heavier loss befell Khode 
Island. The two men who had been so long rivals in their 
public life, as agents of their respective colonies, but who 
had always maintained a mutual friendship, passed from 
the world almost together. Dr. John Clarke expired two 
weeks after Governor Winthrop, in the sixty-seventh year 
of his ago. To him Rhode Island was chiefly indebted for 
the extension of her territory un each side of the bay, as 
well as for the royal charter. He was a ripe scholar, 
learned in the practice of two professions, besides having 
had large experience in diplomatic and political life. He 
was always in public life under the old patent, as commis- 
sioner and as general treasurer, from the first election of 
commissioners held under it, until sent to England, where 
he was employed as agent of the colony for twelve years. 
On his return, he served as a deputy in the Assembly from 
the first election under the charter till he was made 
deputy governor, to which position he was three times 
elected, and served twice, closing his public life with that 
office, five years ])efore his death. AVith all these public 
pursuits, he continued the practice of his original profes- 
sion as a })hysician, and also retained the pastoral charge 
of his church, as its records show. His life was devoted to 
the good of others. He was a patriot, a scholar, and a 
Christian. The purity of his character is conspicuous in 
many trying scenes, and his blameless, self-sacrificing life 
disarmed detraction and left him without an enemy. He 
was three times married l)ut left no children. The colony 
was largely indebted to him for advances made in securing 
the charter, and this del)t was not extinguished till many 
years after his decease.' 

' He had mortgaged his Newport estate in July, lOGo, to Capt. Richard 



OFFICE OF MAJOR-GENERAL CREATED. 413 

The General Assembly having ];)rovided for tlie naval chap. 

defence of the island, adjourned one week and then created :_^ 

the office of Major-General, They elected Captain John 107 0. 
Cranston, with the title of Major, to command all the H 
militia of the colony. The commission is signed hy Gov. 
Coddington, whose religious tenets were compelled, in this 
case, to succumb to the popular will under the stimulus 
of pressing danger. Providence was in ruins ; but as the 
time for planting was near, the handful of men who re- 
mained there again ajiplied to the governor for aid in 
maintaining a garrison. Deputy governor Clarke replied, 
agreeing to sustain ten men at the colony's expense, until jo. 
the next session of Assembly, when a committee was sent 
to Providence upon that business, and further action was ^^^^y 
postponed for another month. 

At the general election, deputy governor Walter Clarke 
Avas chosen governor, and Major John Cranston deputy 
governor. Ten barrels of powder and a ton of lead were 
ordered to be bought. 

■ For two months after the capture of Canonchet, there ^ 
were no events of importance in the war. The Indians had ■>. 
gone north, and thither the Connecticut troops under Ma- 
jor Talcot pursued them. Their march to Brookfield and 
Northampton was a long and weary one, known, to tliis 
day, as " the hungry march," from the sufferings of the 
soldiers for want of food. They came in good time, for 
only four days after their arrival at the latter place, a force 
of seven hundred Indians made a furious assault upon 
Hadley, noAv for the third time attacked. It was then 
that the sudden appearance of Goffe,^ the regicide, who 

Dean, of London. Tlie last payment was not made till Sept. 5tli, IG'.li), wlien 
£115 was paid to the heirs of Capt. Dean, and the mortgage was lifted. 
Backus's Hist, of the Baptists. 

' The tradition that Gofie and Whaley were at one time concealed iu Nar- 
raganset, is strengthened hy the suspicions of the royal Commissioners to that 
effect. In a letter from Fort James, New York, 31st Oct., 1G(5G, to Mr. Eich- 
ards, a constable in Kings Province, they, at his request, authorize him to 



1-2. 



414 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, iinlvown to the people was concealed near the town, served 
__^J_ to rally the terrified inhabitants to battle until the troops 
1 G 7 G. from Northampton came to the rescue. His venerable as- 
' 12. pect, mysterious appearance, and as sudden departure, so 
bewildered the population of Hadlcy, that they ascribed 
their deliverance to the interposition of an angel, so super- 
natural, in their minds, was the whole transaction. At 
this time, Col. Church concluded a treaty with Awashonhs, 
queen of Seaconnet, by which her tribe was detached from 
the cause of Philip, and soon after united in the expedition 
under Church, that tei'minated the war. The daring dis- 
played by Church in this negotiation, was equal to his 
shiil in effecting the result.^ Awashonks sent a messenger 
to Khode Island, whose safe conduct was provided for by 
1-1. the Assembly. The Providence petition was granted by 
establishing a garrison of eight men, with two more, to bo 
found by the owner of the garrison house at his own cost, 
Koger Williams, Arthur Fenner, William Harris, and 
George Lawtoii were appointed to select, from the garri- 
sons already existing in Providence, the one best suited 
for the purpose, which was to be called the king's garrison. 
Captain Arthur Fenner was placed in command and duly 
commissioned. The Assembly had a series of adjourn- 
ments all through this year, sitting every few weeks, as 
the exigencies of the time required. The army in pass- 
ing through Providence, after the great swamp fight, had 
left there certain hostages or prisoners in charge of Roger 
Williams, who sent them for safe keeping to Newport. 
30. The Assembly ordered them to be returned to Providence, 
"judging they properly belong to Plymouth colony." It 
should be noted that the army left no garrison at Provi- 

retaiu tlie ciftlo In liis custody, giving security ia tlic sum oi' £'100 to tLe 
Governor of Khode Island, for tlie surrender of saiil cattle -when required, " as 
it appears to us Ly several testimonies and circumstances that the cattle are 
truly belonging to them," Goffe and Whaley. Br. S. P. 0., New Eng. vol. 
i. p. 357. 

' Church's Ilistorv, 35-44. 



19 



DEFEAT OF THE INDIANS NEAR WARWICK. 415 

cleiice, although, by the act of the confederates, the de- chap. 
fenceless towns of Ehode Island were exposed to the mcr- w/^ 
ciless savages, who could not he expected, after the de- 1 C 7 C. 
struction of their fort by the English, to distinguish friend 
from foe among the whites. In fact every house between 
Providence and Stonington, except the stone one at War- 
wick, was burned, and every fertile field laid waste. The 
Assembly repealed the law exempting Quakers from bear- 
ing arms or paying military fines, and now required every 
citizen to do his part in personally defending the State. 
The exemjition act was restored when the war was ended. 

After the repulse at Hadley the Indians deserted that ' 
part of the country, and resumed their ravages to some 
extent in Plymouth. The English army marched to the ' " " 
south, and surprised them in a cedar swamp near A V ar- 
wick. A great slaughter ensued. Magnus, the old queen 
of Narraganset, a sister of Ninigret, was taken, and with 
ninety other captives put to the sword. One hundred 
and seventy-one Indians fell in this massacre without the 
loss of a single man of the English. Thence they scoured 
the country between Providence and Warwick, killing 
many more. The effect of these repeated reverses was 
soon visible. The Indians were divided in their councils, 
and many sued for peace. Many came to Conanicut isl- 
and, and submitted to the government of Ehode Island, 
and large numbers surrendered at discretion to the Eng- 
lish forces. Others fled westward, and were chased from 
swamp to swamp. The main body of these were over- 
taken near the Housatonic river, by Major Talcot, and 
cut to pieces. Still Philip maintained his ground with a 
band of trusty followers. lie haql said that he would not 
live till he had no country, and the time was drawing 
nigh when his word would be redeemed. 

Capt. Church was commissioned by Gov. Winslow to 24 
proceed v/ith a volunteer force of two hundred men, chiefly 
Indians, to attack Philip in his retreats near Mount Hope. 



416 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

ciiAr. For several days tliey pursued the Indians from place to 
^^^^ place, killing many and taking a large number prisoners, 
II'' TO. among whom Avere Philip's wife and only son. The sa- 
^'l'^' chem himself narrowly escaped being shot. Still his in- 
domitable spirit sustained him. Two Khode Island com- 
panies under Lieut. Eichmond and Capt. Edmonds, 
7. brought in forty-two captives. These and all other pris- 
oners were ordered to be sold into service in the colony 
for the term of nine years, one-half the proceeds to go to 
the captors and the rest to the treasury. No Indians 
were permitted to be brought into the island, or to be 
sent out of it without permission of the magistrates, un- 
der a penalty of five pounds. 

Church closely followed up his successes, and in three 
day^ had captured over one hundred and seventy of Phil- 
ip's followers. The sachem was driven to a swamp near 
Mount Hope, where one of his followers, advising him to 
sue for peace, was slain on the spot by the indignant 
chief. This indiscreet act hastened his own death. Al- 
derman, a brother of the murdered man, deserted to 
Churcli, and guided the enemy to the place where Philip 
|o was concealed. The thicket was surrounded. Capt. 
Piogcr Goulding of Pihode Island went into the swamp to 
drive out the Indians. Philip in attempting to escape 
was shot through the heart by Alderman himself, thus 
singularly fulfilling the prophecy of the powaws at the 
beginning of the war, that IMetacomet should never fall 
by English hands. The body was dragged out of the 
swamp, beheaded and quartered by an Indian. The head 
was sent to Plymouth, where it was set up on a gibbet 
for twenty years ; one liand was sent to Boston as a 
trophy, and the other, which had a well-known scar, was 
given to Alderman, wlio made money by exhibiting it. 
The mangled body was lumg upon four trees, a monument 
of the l)arbaritv of the age. The great chieftain of the 



CLOSING IKCIDENTS OF THE WAR. 417 

aborigines fell by a traitor's arm, and was denied the rite ciiAi'. 



X. 



of Christian bnrial by his vindictive foes ! 

Anion f? those who fell in this attack was the Indian ifi^t; 
who had fired the first gun in the war. An idea was cur- 
rent in those days that whichever side began the war 
would be defeated, which may account for the report that 
Philip wept when he heard of the massacre at Swanzey. 
When we consider these two events, the manner of Phil- 
ip^s death, and the fall, at the same moment, of the In- 
dian who commenced the war, and recall the two prophe- 
cies or traditions which contemporary writers record, the 
whole tragedy of the war assumes the air of an acted 
drama. The coincidences certainly could not be more re- 
markable in a written tragedy. 

Most of the Indians escaped from the swamp guided 
by old Annawon, a noted warrior under Massasoit, and 
the chief counsellor of Metacomet. He was a wary sav- 
age, and none but a master of the art of Indian warfare, 
like Church, could have taken him alive. This was ac- 
complished by Church a few nights after the death of 
Philip. Church wished to spare his life, but, in his ab- 
sence, the Plymouth authorities ordered him to be shot. 
The most renowned captives met a similar fate. Quina- 
pin, a cousin of Canonchet, and next to him in command 04 
at the great swamp fight, was sentenced to death by a 
council of war at Newport, and he with his brother were 
shot the next day. Pumham had already effaced the 05 
stain of a servile life by a manly death.' The friends of 
Philip were all executed, or met a fate worse than death 
in being sold away into perpetual slavery. Such w^as the 
fate of the young Metacomet, the only son of Philip, and 
hundreds of other captives were shipped to Spain and the 
West Indies. 

One thing should be said to the lasting honor of the red 

' He fell on the 25tli July at tlie head of his warriors, iu a buttle near 
Dedham. Drake, Book iii. p. 75. 

VOL. I. — 27 



418 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

man. The treatment of their prisoners was generally hu- 
mane, more so than was that of their Christian conquerors. 
] 7G. Some of the soldiers, it is true, were tortured, but only a 
*' few, while the captives taken by the English were mostly 
butchered, in cold blood, or sent into Spanish slavery. 
The English women were uniformly treated with respect. 
In not a single instance was violence offered to their per- 
sons during their captivity. The chivalric honor of the 
savage was the inviolable protection of his female captive. 
This is the unvarying testimony of many women, of all 
ages and conditions, who were carried away in the sacking 
of the towns. 1 

The war was ended. Desolation reigned over New 
England, and destiny had placed the seal of annihilation 
upon the Indian race. Victors and vanquished were alike 
exhausted. Thirteen English towns were in utter ruin, 
and except in Connecticut, which altogether escaped, 
scarcely one remained unscathed. The rural districts 
were everywhere laid waste. One-eleventh of the avail- 
able militia of the country had fallen in battle, and a still 
larger proportion of buildings were destroyed." A heavy 
debt weighed upon the United Colonies,-' while Rhode 
Island, excluded from the league and always opposed to 
the war, had suffered most severely of all. Her mainland 
had become a desert, her islands fortresses for defence and 
cities of refuge. We have already adverted to the sad 
fate of the captive Indians. A few of the foremost in 
the war were condemned to death, but the greater part, 

' See Mrs. Rowlandson's narrative of her captivity. 

^ Trumbull's Connecticut, 350, note. 

5 Edward Eaudoliih in bis report to the Board of Trade, Oct. 12tb, 1G76, 
states the cost of the war at £150,000, that about twi?lve hundred liouses 
■were burnt, over eight thousand head of cattle destroyed, besides tliousands 
of bushels of grain. The English loss he puts at six hundred, with twelve 
captiiins, and the Indians at more than three thousand. The original report 
is in the British S. P. 0. N. England papers, vol. ii. p. 03-100. See also 
Davis's Morton's Memorial, p. 458, Appendix, and Thatcher's Indian Biogra- 
phy, vol. i. p. 162. 



DISPOSAL OF THE CAPTIVES. 419 

in the otlier colonies, were sent abroad and sold into hope- chap. 

less slavery. The conduct of Khode Island was more hu- ^_J 

mane, and her legislation on this subject, when we con- 10 7 0. 
sider the spirit of the age and the example of her neigh- ""' 
bors, was more enlightened. The act of March, to which 
we before referred, declared " that no Indian in this col- 
ony be a slave, but only to pay their debts, or for their 
bringing up, or custody they have received, or to perform 
covenant as if they had been countrymen and not taken 
in war." This was in fact a true apprenticeship system, 
whose terms were strictly carried out, such as generally 
existed until a recent day among the white population 
everywhere, differing only in the fact that one was volun- 
tary while the other was not. It was not slavery either 
as it is recognized now or as it existed then ; and Avriters 
who have wasted regrets over the part that Roger Wil- 
liams had in the final disposition ' of the Rhode Island 
captives, might have spared their words had they more 
carefully examined the nn ture of the transaction, or taken 
into account the spirit of the age and the conduct of the 
other colonies. At a town-meeting held in Providence 
upon this subject, a committee of five, of whom Williams 
Avas chairman, reported a scale by which the proceeds of 
the sale of Indians was to be divided among the towns- U. 
men. The inhabitants were to be supplied at the rate 
current on the island. All captives under five years of 
age were "to serve till thirty ; above five and under ten, 
till twenty-eight ; above ten to fifteen, till twenty-seven ; 
above fifteen to twenty, till twenty-six ; from twenty to 
thirty shall serve eight years ; all above thirty, seven 
years." ' An Indian named Cliuft", who had been a ring- 
leader in the assaults on Providence, was condemned by 
the council of war and shot. Still it was necessary to 25. 
preserve a strict watch over the natives. A warrant was 

' An extract from an account of sales at this time, and' showing the value 
of Indian service, is given in Judge Staple's Annals, 171. 



420 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

(JHAP. issued to stoj) all the canoes on Prudence Island, and 
.^L^.^ not to j^ermit any Indian to leave tlie island till further 
10 7 0. orders. Care was also taken to prevent their obtaining 
any arms or ammunition.' The refugees hegan now to 
°' return from Newjiort. Mrs. Williams was brought up in 
a sloop belonging to her son Providence, who on the same 
Of) day carried away all the Indian prisoners to be sold at 
Newport. The eastern Indians, instigated by the French, 
continued for some years longer to harass the frontiers, 
and Col. Church was repeatedly sent against them. But 
the death of Metacomet closed the war in the settled por- 
tions of New England. 

This war was the last struggle of an expiring nation. 
Before taking leave of the subject we may be allowed to 
present a few reflections suggested b} the results. The 
Wampanoags and the Narragansets suffered the fate of 
the Pequots, and successive tribes, however powerful or 
warlike, have in their turn followed the same path to 
death. All history points to an inevitable law controlling 
the occupancy of the earth. Three races, and probably 
four, })erhaps*even more, have occupied this continent, 
but two of which remain, and one of these is fast retiring 
before the onward progress of the other. A century hence 
there will scarcely be a vestige of the Indian race upon 
ihis continent. They will have utterly disappeared, and, 
unlike their predecessors whose western tumuli and Aztec 
monuments survive the kno\Yledge of their builders, and 
attest the existence of two successive races anterior to 
the Indians, they will not leave a proof upon the earth 
that they ever have existed. What is the law by which 
race after race of humanity succeed each other, each one 
continuing for untold ages, and then giving place to 
another utterly dissimilar to its predecessor ? The ques- 
tion involves the very mystery of creation, and can never 

' A copy of this warrant is in "Letters and Papers, 1G32-1G78," Ko. iii. 
p. 161, in the Mass. Hist. Soc. 



LAW OF THE SUCCESSION OF RACES. 421 

he determined by finite minds. What we see daily oc- chap. 
curring in our own and in other lands, where a higher ^^I^ 
type of civilization is steadily and rapidly supplanting a l 6 7 G. 
grosser and weaker barbarism, may serve to show the op- 
eration of a law that seems to have existed since the 
formation of man. AVherever the arts, the customs, or 
the religion of a superior race is brought in contact with 
an inferior, the latter perishes. As geological science 
teaches that successive eras in the material history of our 
globe have produced steadily progressive forms of animal 
life, adapted to each new change, so the law of progress 
in the human family seems to be that a race which has 
expanded to its utmost, filling the position that nature 
assigned it, when brought in contact with a superior type 
of humanity, must gradually but certainly disaj^pear. 
The Caucasian is the highest type of mankind, and 
wherever it has appeared the inferior races have been 
subdued or annihilated. The degree of resistance which 
the inferior race opposes to this positive law is propor- 
tioned to its api)roacli to, or its remoteness from, the in- 
tellectual scope of the Caucasian. The changes that his- 
tory presents in the different nations of the white race, 
by conc[uest or assimilation, prove nothing against the 
general law. Like modifies but cannot destroy like. The 
different nations of the same type are improved by the 
mixture of their elements. The history of Europe estab- 
lishes this fact. It matters not whether the Anglo-Nor- 
man or Saxon race is superior to all others of the Cau- 
casian type, as some have claimed, or not. The question 
is higher and deeper than that ; it is one of races, not of 
nations. 

It is a singular fact that the Indians, who before the 
coming of the English were very prolific, soon ceased to 
be so. Sterility became the rule and not the exception. 
As the natural proclivity of mankind is to evil rather 
than to good, the inferior race rapidly adopted the \dces, 



422 ' HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, while it rejected the religion, and hut slowly apprehended 
.^J^J,^^ the arts and sciences of the white man. The Indians 
1 C7G. liad attained their culminating point in mental and phys- 
ical progress. Their intellectual powers admitted of no 
higher development, and hence they were doomed, hy this 
inevitable law of Nature, to annihilation. They had ful- 
filled their destiny, and this continent was to he given up 
to a higher type of humanity. Thus has it been in every 
portion of the world where the white race has extended. 

Wo do not present this as an excuse for the wrongs 
inflicted upon the aborigines by our ancestors, and con- 
tinued upon their feeble remnants at this day by our- 
selves ; but we do say, that this extinction of races is 
soniething in the Providence of God which we cannot 
avert if we would, and that everywhere the introduction 
of the arts, religion, and commerce of Caucasian civiliza- 
tion has been attended with the same results. Centuries 
may be reijuired to accomplish the end, according as the 
field of operation is extensive ordimited, and as the influ- 
ence exerted by the new race is concentrated or scattered ; 
but tlie result is the same. From one cause and another, 
some apparent and others not, the inferior race will grad- 
ually die out. So has it been on the Atlantic coast, and 
thus is it progressing to the Pacific. War does not do it ; 
the prevalence of new vices cannot fully account for it ; 
famine and pestilence contribute but little in the aggre- 
gate towards it, for all of these evils exist as actively, or 
more so, among the dominant race. The law that gov- 
erns it appears to be that Avhich we have stated, and 
which a recent writer thus announces, " that the organi- 
zation God has created for one species of dcvelojmient is 
radically unfitted to receive another." ' That " other " 

' Confessions of an Inquirer, by J. J. Janes, Part I., p. 192. The writer • 
regrets that his limits do not permit him to expand this subject, but only to 
throw out thus briefly a view -which is the result of some reflection upon the 
most interesting problem of human history. The curious reader will find a 



23. 



CONNECTICUT RENEWS THE CLAIM TO KINGS PROVINCE. 423 

has now been for two centuries at work upon this conti- chap. 
nent, and before its resistless advance the Indian dis- 
appears. It is the fiat of the Ahnighty. 

The General Assembly discharged Capt. Fenner and 
the King's garrison at Providence from further service. 
They also provided that- all Indians who should come 27. 
upon any islands in the bay, must have written authority 
therefor from the committee appointed to dispose of In- 
dians, Avithout which they would be liable to be sold into 
service as captives. The law of May, compelling everj^ 
man to bear arms, was repealed, and that of 1G73, ex- 
empting those who were conscientiously opposed to Avar 
from so doing, was re-enacted. Scarcely had the Indian 
war closed before the Connecticut colony renewed tlieir 
claims to the Narraganset country. The council at Hart- Aug. 
ford, in addition to the Avords of their charter, noAv as- 
sumed to hold the Kings Province by right of conc[uest. 
The vigor with which they had prosecuted the war con- 
trasted with the comparative inaction of Rhode- Island, 
and to those who overlook the difference in their respective 
positions during this struggle, the claim appears reasona- 
ble. Connecticut had suffered nothing upon her own 
soil by hostile tribes. The Indians within her borders 
Avere friendly to the English, as the Narragansets had al- 
Avays been to Rhode Island, until exasperated by the Avan- 
ton destruction of their stronghold by the United Colo- 
nies. She was thus enabled to send her troops abroad, 
and to render invaluable services to her more distressed 
neighbors, while Rhode Island, the most exposed of the 

similar train of thought elaborated in chapter xxi. of the work above cited, 
which will richly repay the perusal. The observations of what is termed the 
An:erican school of ethnologists, so far as they incidentally touch upon this 
branch of the subject, go to confirm the view here laid down, and that, too, 
altogether independent of the question mainly involved in their works, whether 
the Mosaic account of the creation is to be received in its literal signification. 
See Types of Mankind, Philadelphia, 1854. Indigenous Races of the Earth, 
Philadelphia, 1857. 



424 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, colonies, doing what she could to protect herself, and ren- 
_:^__ deriug efficient and acknowledged aid to the others, in 
1 G 7 6. supplies and men, according to her means, was now re- 
q^uired to pay the penalty of her weakness, by surrender- 
ing the ftiirest portion of her domain. The council or- 
dered that all persons, English or Indian, who had any 
rights in Narraganset, should apply to them for leave to 
occupy the same, and whoever should do otherwise would 
he dealt with severely. The Assembly took this mat- 
ter in hand as the first business of the session, and 
sent a letter to Connecticut remonstrating in strong terms 
Oct. against the act of her council, and protesting also against 
2-^- the policy and conduct of the late war, as well as the in- 
justice of depriving her citizens of their property because 
they had been compelled to abandon it temporarily, 
oy They also set up a prohibition in Narraganset, forbidding 
any one to exercise jurisdiction there, or to dispose of 
lands excej)t by authority of Rhode Island. 

A fatal epidemic prevailed on the island at this time, 
so sudden in its effect, that two or three days sufficed to 
destroy the victim, and so general, that but few families 
escaped vv'ithout the loss of some of their number/ 
Among the deaths that occasioned business for the As- 
sembly was that of James Rogers, who had been longer 
and more steadily in public office than any other man in 
• the colony, having been elected for twenty successive 
years, the first three as general solicitor, and the last eigh- 
teen as general sergeant — for one year he filled both offi- 
ces. Thomas Fry was chosen as his successor. 

' See A Journal of the Life, &c., of William Ednniiidson. London, 1713. 
After his first visit to Rhode I-^laud, before referred to, in 1G72, he returned 
to Ireland. In 1G75 he made another mlssionaiy tour to the West Indies, 
and thence came to Rhode Island, made a journey to the eastward, and re- 
turned to Rhode Island at the close of the war, M'here he remained some 
time. He describes this pestilence, and was himseh" takeij sick with it at 
Walter Newberry's house in Newport, but does not give the nam3 of the dis- 
ease. 



SALE OF INDIANS. 425 

A curious original document exists, showing the results oiiAi'. 
of the sale of the first company of Indians on account of ^^^^, 
the townsmen of Providence. It is a receipt to the com- '^'y^-'- 
mittee of sale, appointed hy the August town-meeting, ].' 
signed by those who w^ero entitled to the proceeds, and 
showing the share of each man, thus fav received, to he 
sixteen shillings and four pence half penny. ^ The In- 
dians caused trouble by erecting their wigwams and mat 
sheds on the commons of the island and on private lands, 
where they became disorderly and drunken. Armed In- 
dians also passed on and off the island without the re- 
quired certificate. .The governor and council ordered 
these wigwams to be removed, all liquors found therein -2. 
to be seized and the bottles broken, and any armed In- 
dian found without a proper passport to be brought before 
the magistrates. That the natives were not yet entirely 
peaceable, appears from the proceedings of a town-meet- 
ing at Providence, where a constant watch and ward Marcli 
was maintained, and armed bands or scouting parties, 
were ordered to scour the woods, and provision was made 
in favor of those who might be wounded on these expedi- 
tions. This precaution was often taken in later times 
whenever any alarm existed, and was required by the ex- 
posed situation of the town. 

Peace being restored and planting time at hand, the 
people of Warwick and Narraganset returned to their 
now desolate jdantations. But the latter were not per- 
mitted to rest in quietness. Three of their number were April 
seized by Capt. Denison and carried prisoners to Hart- I'j'''^. 
ford.'^ They immediately informed Gov. Clarke of the 

' The committee of sale were Arthur Fenner, William Ilopkius, find John 
Whipple, jr. Foster Papers, vol. i. MSS. 

" Thomas Gould, James Reynolds, and Henry 'J'ibbitts. Gould afterwards 
compounded with Connecticut, and on 1-ith May petitioned for himself and 
others for leave to replant in Narraganset, acknowledging the authority ot 
Connecticut. Conn. Col. Rec, ii. u-tO, note. 



426 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, outrage, soliciting protection. The council promised re- 

^^;_ lief, and also wrote to Connecticut, tlie same day, de- 

16 77. manding their release, and threatening to make reprisals 

2 ' in case it was refused. This was the first business that 

occupied the new Greneral Assembly. 

At the election Benedict Arnold was chosen governor, 
in place of Walter Clarke, and Major John Cranston was 
continued as deputy governor. The Assembly confirmed 
the positions taken by the council in their letters to the 
Narraganset men and to Connecticut, and took measures 
for the re-settlement of Kings Province. A court of Jus- 
tices was appointed to be held in Narraganset, with full 
powers to pi-otect the settlers from the acts of the Con- 
necticut officers. Ten thousand acres of land, to be 
equally divided among one hundred men, were appropri- 
ated for new settlers who should be approved by the As- 
sembly, and all persons were forbidden to enter within the 
l)rovince except by authority of the Court, They also 
addressed another letter to Connecticut, reiterating theij- 
right to Narraganset, and declaring their intention to ap- 
peal to the King if these molestations were continued. 

The election of Gov. Arnold was a triumph of the 
war party in Eliode Island. The militia law was now 
thoroughly revised : but lest it should be considered as 
intrenching upon the rights of the Quakers, the preamble 
and the concluding proviso recited the necessity of mili- 
tary defence, and carefully proclaimed, in the words of 
the charter, the freedom of conscience. It was ordered 
to.be published by beat of drum in all the towns of the 
colony. The King's garrison, as it was called, in Provi- 
dence, Vvdiich had been discharged in October, was re-es- 
tablished in the very words of the act by which it was 
first organized. The forms of engagement of officers, and 
of reciprocal engagement of the colony were redrafted, to 
be employed the next year, and an engagement to be at 
once, administered to constables, who heretofore had never 



A COMPROMISE PROPOSED, 427 

been formally qualified, was adopted. That Sabbatarian chap. 
views were already maintained in the colony is shown by ._1^ 
a petition presented at this time to change the ^narket 16 7 7 
day, which heretofore had been Saturday only. The As- o' 
sembly saw no sufficient reason to alter the day, but or- 
dered that a market should likewise be kept in Newport 
on Thursday of each week. This and all other acts of 
the Assembly were " published in the town of Newport 
by beat of drum, under the seal of the colony, by the 
clerk of the Assembly." An adjournment was taken to 
allow time for a reply to be received from Connecticut, 
upon the most important business of the session. 

The Assembly at Hartford, acting upon a petition of 
John Saffin in behalf of the Atherton claimants, ap- 
pointed a committee to meet at Narraganset in June to lo. 
lay out lands, and also encouraged the Wickford planters 
to return under their auspices. They replied to the two 
letters from Rhode Island, asserting their claims to juris- 
diction, and acquiescing in the appeal to the King, but 
proposing, in a postscript, by way of compromise, that 
Cowesett, now East Greenwich, should be the boundary 
between the two colonies. This reply not being satisfac- 
tory, the General Assembly appointed Peleg Sandford and 24. 
Richard Baily as agents of the colony, to proceed to Eng- 
land, and voted the sum of two hundred and fifty pounds 
for their outfit. A letter was sent, notifying Connecticut 
that Rhode Island would proceed at once to settle and 
govern Narraganset, and also offering to that colony one- 
half of all the unpurchased lands in the disputed territo- 
ry, to be at their disposal, provided the settlers thereupon 
should submit to the government of Rhode Island. This 
was a futile attempt at compromise, suggested no doubt 
by the proposal made " for peace sake " by Connecticut. 
The Assembly then adjourned to the time appointed by 
Connecticut for the meeting of her committee in Narra- J^'ii^ 
ganset. Upon reassembling, steps were taken to raise 



15. 



428 HISTOEY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, money in Newport and Portsmouth for the expenses of 
^;_ the agents to be sent to England. The sums raised were 
1^ 6 7 7. to he credited to account of the appropriation of ten 

11 tliousand acres in Narraganset, at the rate of one shiUing 
an acre. The Connecticut committee met on the same 
day in Narraganset, examined the country, and reported 

1^'- to their government concerning the quality and ownership 
i)f the lands. The proceedings of the Court of Justices 
held by Ehode Island are not preserved, although, upon 
its rising, the Assembly was again convened by warrant 
of the Governor, and ordered that the transactions of that 

•20. Court should be a part of the public records. The coun- 
cil of Connecticut replied, rejecting the offer of land, and 
renewing their proposal to make Cowesett the boundary 
between the two charters. 
Dot. At the fall session of the Assembly the law requiring 

'^1- deputies to take an engagement on entering upon the du- 
ties of their office, was repealed. It had been just five 
years in operation, was stoutly opposed, especially by the 
mainland towns, at the time of its passage, and had 
caused much hard feeling ever since. There seems to us 
no valid reason for all this, but the cause assigned for the 
repeal was that, as every freeman had already engaged 
true allegiance to the King and colony upon his admission, 
it was unnecessary to repeat the ceremony upon his tak- 
ing office. This shows a degree of respect for the nature 
of an oath or engagement, more creditable to the morals 
of our ancestors, than is the constant and frivolous admin- 
istration of oaths, in judicial and commercial affairs at 
this day, to ourselves. A tract of five thousand acres of 
land in Narraganset was laid out in two parts, one of five 
hundred acres on the bay, for house lots, and the remain- 
der in farms of ninety acres each, and distributed among 
fifty men, who were now incorporated as the toAvn of East 
Greenwich. The parties were to build upon their lots 
within one year or lose the land, and no one was to sell 



DEATH OF GORTON. 429 

bis land within twenty-one years, unless by consent of the 
Assembly, on pain of forfeiture. They were also to lay 
out convenient roads from the bay up into the country. 

The death of Samuel Gorton, the founder of War- 
wick, which occurred at this time, should not be passed 
over in silence. . He w^as one of the most remarkable men 
that ever lived. His career furnishes an apt illustration 
of the radicalism in action, which may sirring from ultra 
conservatism in theory. The turbulence of his earlier 
history w^as the result of a disregard. for existing law, be- 
cause it was not based upon what he held to be the only 
legitimate source of power — the assent of the supreme 
authority in England. He denied the right of a people 
to self-government, and contended for his views witli the 
vigor of an unrivalled intellect, and the strength of an 
ungoverned passion. But when this point was conceded, 
by the securing of a patent, no man was more submissive 
to delegated law. His astuteness of mind and his Bibli- 
cal learning made him a formidable opponent of the Pu- 
ritan hierarchy, while his ardent love of liberty, when it 
was once guaranteed, caused him to embrace with fervor 
the principles that gave origin to Ehode Island. He lived 
to " a great age." The time of his birth is not certainly 
known, and the precise day of his death is equally ob- 
scure. " The exact spot," says his biographer, " where 
his ashes repose, is marked by no pious stone or monu- 
mental marble. Yet, if without other honors, may it at 
least ever be their privilege to sleep beneath the green 
sward of a free State ! "' 

A combination of local disputes, relating in the first 
instance to proprietary rights, then involving questions 
of boundary between Providence and Pawtuxet, and 
finally extending beyond the present county of Provi- 
dence, had commenced almost with the first settlement of 

^ He died between 27tli Nov. and lOtb Dec., 1G77. Mackie's Lite of Gor- 
ton, chap. viii. in Sparks' Am. Biog., vol. xv. pp. ',i7S, .'580. 



430 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND, 

CHAP, the town, and now assumed a magnitude and importance 
that bring them within the legitimate province of State 
history. The details of these disputes are prolix and un- 
interesting. A survey of their chief points is all that 
we propose in this place.' They originated in a differ- 
ence of construction put upon the deeds of Canonicus and* 
Miantinomi to Eoger Williams, and which was- further 
complicated by a memorandum, added the following year, 
confirming the same. The last clause in the deed con- 
tained the words of disputed interpretation, '• we do freely 
give unto him all that land from those rivers,- reaching 
to Pawtuxet river, as also the grass and meadows upon 
the said Pawtuxet river," which the confirmation made 
still more inexact by the words, " up the streams of Paw- 
tucket and Pawtuxet without limits, we might have for 
our use of cattle." Hence arose a question, in after years, 
whether the tract whose limits, in the confirmation clause, 
w^ere thus general and undefined, formed a part of the 
purchase, or whether it was merely a grant of the right 
of pasturage to the head waters of the two last-named 
rivers, with the fee still reserved in the grantors. It was 
a question of no importance at first, but when the town 
increased it gave rise to bitter dissensions, one party main- 
taining the former view, at the head of whom was Wil- 
liam Harris, while the other, with Roger Williams as its 
leader, sustained the rights of the Indians. Williams 
had made the original purchase for himself, before the 
settlement of the town, and two years later drew this 
deed or memorandum, which does no credit to his legal 
acquirements. He however must have known better than 
any one else what it did mean ; but a party already ex- 
isted against him who pressed their views with unneces- 
sary asperity. AVhen the Legislature, or " Court of Com- 

' The reader will find a more full aceount of these divisions and disputes 
than is iiere given, in- Judge Staples' Annals of Providence, chap. x. 
- Mooshausick and Wanasquatucket. 



rROVlDENCE AND TAWTUXET BOUNDAEY DISPUTE. 431 

missioners," as it was styled under tlie old patent, author- chai'. 
ized the town to buy off the Indians, and to .add three .^J^ 
thousand acres to their territory by purchase from the sa- 16 7 7. 
chems/ the town negotiated with the natives to obtain 
their removal, and in that year took three deeds, from the 
successors of Canonicus and Miantinomi, more clearly de- 
fining the disputed western boundary of the colony. ^ The 
two parties viewed these conveyances in different lights ; 
one considered them as simple confirmations of the origi- 
nal grant, the other as a new purchase. If they were 
only confirmations the whole tract belonged to the origi- 
nal proprietors of Providence, who were the owners of 
what was called, in the division of lands into two parts, ^ 
" the Pawtuxet purchase." But if these were in fact 
new purchases, the fee vested equally in those members 
of the corporation who had been admitted since the first 
grand division of lands. It is readily seen how important 
it was to each party that the settlement of this question 
should be in its favor. Again, whichever way this dispute 
of title might be settled, the deeds were so vague, and 
the rights exercised imder them were so varied and un- 
limited, that nothing definite could be agreed upon as to 
the limits of the first grand division — where " the grand 
purchase of Providence " ended and " the Pawtuxet pur- 
chase " began. An attempt had been early made to de- 
termine this boundary,^ but the line had never been run 
out, nor could it be, owing to the vagueness of the deed, 

' May, 1659, ante, chap. viii. 

- Tlie first of these was given by Cawjaniquante, hrother of Miantinomi, 
May 29th, 1659. It confirmed the old grant and defined it as extending from 
Fox's hill, twenty miles in a straight line np between Pawtuclcet and Paw- 
tuxet river.-. His son aclcnowledged the deed .28th April following. The 
other two deeds, from resident sachems of the same fixmily, were given 13th 
Au<nist and 1st December, confirming the first one, and granting the lands in 
fee simple, but with less exactness of boundary. All three deeds are printed 
in Staples' Annals, p. 567-70. 

^ Made Oct. 8th, 1638, ante ch. iv. ' 

* July 27th, 1610, ante ch. iv. 



432 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, both as to tlie nature and the limits of the rights con- 
-J^'.-^ veyed in the conchidiug chiuse. To restore peace among 
1 *^' '> ^- the distracted townsmen Eoger Williams made a proposi- 
tion ' for a new purchase from the Indians, and a separate 
settlement in the disputed territory. This was rejected 
hy Thomas Olney, A¥illiam Harris, and Arthur Fenner, 
in behalf of the town.- A majority of the town having 
decided ^ that the later deeds were simply confirmatory, 
the Pawtuxet purchasers paid one-quarter of the cost,^ 
and the town limits were agreed to be at a point twenty 
miles west of Fox hill. A committee of three from each 
place was named to run the line ' between Providence and 
Pawtuxet, and seven years afterward they made a jjartial 
report covering less ground than w-as claimed by the Paw- 
tuxet men, having ceased their surveys westward at a 
point afterw^ards known as '' the seven mile line." Mean- 
while William Harris made a voyage to England, to ob- 
tain justice from the King, but with no definite results." 

The disputes between Providence and Pawtuxet re- 
lated solely to title, the whole tract being within the 
township of Providence ; but soon after the purchase of 
Warwick cjuestions involving both title and jurisdiction 
arose, the former between the purchasers of Warwick and 
of Pawtuxet, the Intter between the towns of Providence 
and Warwick. The Pawtuxet men were thus placed, as 
it Vvere, between two fires. Legal measures were early 
resorted to by the conflicting claimants for title. Nu- 

' 27tli Oct., IGGO. - 29th Oct., IGGO. '' March, IGGO. 

■' The one-quarter paid to the Indians by the Pawtuxet purchasers for 
these confirmation deeds amounted to twelve pounds one shilling and eight 
pence, as appears hy an agreement of a joint committee of the two parties, 
composed of Roger Williams, PJchard Waterman, Z. Pihodes, John Brown, 
.lames Allen, and William Harris, in August, 1663. Sea MSS. papers ot 
AVilliam Harris, in possession of W. J. Harris, Esq. 

= April, 1661. 

'' lu 1663, the evidence of which is in a bill of costs presented by him 
against tlie town of Warwick to the Court of Commissioners, 17th Nov., 1G77, 
preserved in the Harris MSS. 



rUETHER DISPUTES AND LITIGATION. 433 

merous suits for tresjiass were Lrought in various Courts, 
without regard to jurisdiction.' Cross suits were insti- 
tuted and counter writs of ejectment were issued, witli no 
jiossibility of an unlbiassed decision, owing to the mode in 
which the tribunals were constituted, the whole commu- 
nity being parties in interest, either directly or contin- 
gently, in every case, nor with any power to enforce a 
judgment, for the same -reason. The progress of these 
various suits may be traced with great minuteness in the 
voluminous files of the Harris manuscripts. William 
Harris was generally successful in obtaining verdicts, but 
could rarely obtain execution, or have process served, un- 
der them. The officers were sometimes resisted by the 
contesting claimants, at others the awards of arbitrators 
or the decrees of Court failed to be carried out. He 
spent half his life in this fruitless litigation, the details 
of which, covering more than thirty years, would be te- 
dious to the reader, and unimportant to the purpose of 
this work. So inextricable was the confusion, and so 
pressing the difficulties arising from these complicated 
sources, that William Harris, as agent for the Pawtuxet 
j)roprietors, at length resolved to go a second time to 
England, to petition the King for a special commission to 
decide upon them. The petition was referred to the 
Board of Trade.'- It set forth the rival claimants to por- 
tions of the Pawtuxet lands, and prayed that tlie gover- 
nors of the four New England colonies, or such men as 
they might appoint, with a jury chosen in part from each 
colony, should settle all dift'erences in the premises.-' The 
mission was successful. A royal order was issued to the 

'The Pawtuxet subjects of Mas.^acluisetts in 1().>0 sued W. Iftirris for 
trespass, and judgment was rendered for the defendant July .'51. Ilavri? was 
himself one of the Pawtuxet proprietors. 

- On June 11th, 1675. 

^ The petition of 1675, with the order upon it issued 4th Au^^'ust, an.l the 
royal letter to the four gavernors, dated August, 1G75, is entered in the Brit- 
ish State Paper Office, New England papers, vol. xxxii. pp. 38-47. 

VOL. I— 28 



434 HISTOKY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

four governors who, after some delay, appointed commis- 
sioners to hear the disputes.' They met at Providence, 
and empanelled a jury of four from Massachusetts, two 
from Plymouth, and three each from Ehode Island and 
Connecticut, The Court then adjourned to meet at Prov- 
idence, where five cases were tried, three against private 
j)arties for tresj^ass, the other two against the towns of 
Warwick and Providence, to compel them to run the 
boundary lines before agreed on, and to decide the title of 
lands on either side of these lines. William Harris, 
Thomas Field, and Nathaniel Waterman were the plain- 
tiffs, and Harris was the attorney for Pawtuxet, in all 
these cases. Eandall Holden and John Greene w'cre ap- 
pointed '^ by the town of Warw^ick to defend her cause. 
Eoger AVilliams, Gregory Dexter, and Arthur Fenner ap- 
peared in behalf of Providence. The trials occupied four 
days, and resulted in a verdict for the plaintiffs on every 
case.^ The town of Warwick, being cast in the suit, at 
once appointed ^ their tw^o attorneys, as agents, to proceed 
to England to represent their case before the throne, and 
to protest against the second verdict of the jury. War- 
rants were issued to compel execution of the verdicts, but 
the question of costs was reserved for advisement with the 
respective governors, the Court doubting its powers to is- 
sue execution for them. 

In order to present these controversies, so far as they 
have a public interest, in a compact form, we shall be 
obliged to pass somewhat beyond the period to which this 
chapter is limited, condensing as much as possible the jiro- 

' Tlicse were Simon Lynde and Daniel Henchman of Mass., Tliomas 
Hinckley, Esq , and James Cudworth, Esq., of Plymouth, Capt. George Den- 
ison and Daniel ■\Vithcrell of Conn., I'eleg Saudlbrd, Esq., and John Cogges- 
hall, of i;. I. 

- Oct. 1, 1077. See Warwick records. 

^ The pleadings in fnll are preserved among the Harris MSS. 

'' 29th Nov., 1G77. See 'Warwick records, and their commissions were 
read and approved in town meeting, 18th January. 



THE VEKDICTS UNEXPLAINED. 435 

ceeclings of the next two or three years upon these cases, 
and then leave the subject for ever. 

To decide the question of costs, the Court met at Bos- 
ton, but the Connecticut members being absent, it was ad- 
journed to meet at Providence, The eight commissioners 
assembled there, but found that nothing had been done 
about running the line between Providence and Pawtuxct 
in accordance with the verdict, which required it to be run 
by the defendants "equally between Pawtuxet river and 
Wanasquatucket river, till they meet a thwart line from 
the head of AVanasquatucket river, directly running to 
Pawtuxet river." An imperfect line, contrary to the in- 
tent of the Court's order, had been surveyed between the 
two rivers, a map of which was presented by Mr. Fenner, 
but rejected by the Court, as being unfair towards the 
plaintiffs ; as the thwart line was drawn to intersect it at 
an acute instead of a right angle. The Court summoned 
the jury to appear in October, and explain their verdict in 
this case, the third in the order of trial. At this meeting, o^t 
one of the commissioners being absent, the two from Rhode -• 
Island withdrew, deeming the Court disqualified to act un- 
less every member was present. The others, considering 
a quorum to be sufficient, proceeded to act. The jurors 
were all present, but the tln-ee from Rhode Island refused 
to explain the verdict. The other nine explained the 
meaning of their third verdict, that the two lines were to 
intersect at right angles. Still, as some of the Court were 
absent, and others doubted their power, under these cir- 
cumstances, to issue warrants to enforce its execution, as 
now explained3 the whole matter was referred back to the 
king, and a full statement of the case was prepared and 
sent to England by Governor Levcrett.' 

' This long statement details the manner in wbich the Court and jury were 
constructed, the five verdicts rendered, and all subsequent proceedings of the 
commissioners. It is entered in New England papers, vol. xxxii. p. 296. 
Br. S. P. 0. 



436 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP. Holden and Greene Avent to England to protest against 

,^J^ the second verdict, Avliicli required the town of Warwick 
1G78-1). and certain individuals in it, as tenants by force, to restore 
2. the land, with one hundred pounds damages, to the plain- 
titfs. They obtained an arrest of judgment by royal de- 
cree, till Harris should prove title before the king in coun- 
cil. Scarcely had they left London to return home, when 
Harris appeared, for tlie third time in England, to urge 
the cause which law and justice had so often decided in 
his favor. Exceptions had been taken by the Warwick 
ao-ents ao-ainst havino- referees from Massachusetts or Con- 
necticut, by reason of their former difficulties with War- 
wick men, and a valid objection was now made by Harris 
against any Rhode Island referees, as being interested par- 
, ^_^ ties. The council therefore recommended that the Magis- 

1 (5 / 0. . . 

June trates of Plymouth colony should decide the questions be- 

^•'- tween Warwick and Pawtuxet, and that Ehode Island be 

required to put Harris in possession of his lands under the 

other four verdicts, within three months from the time of 

receiving the order, or otherwise that Plymouth should see 

,;nh- it done. An order to this effect passed the council, and 
p- letters were jirepared in accordance therewith.' Thus 
Harris was again triumphant before the highest tribunal 
in the realm, but justice was still withheld. Governor 
Winslow gave the parties a hearing and decided in favor 
of Harris, coniirmiug the verdict against Warwick." The 
governor and council of Ehode Island received the royal 

' y}\' order brought over by Harris, and placed a warrant in the 

hands of the marshal, to execute judgment in accordance 

Nov. with the verdicts. This he attempted to do, but it would 
24. 

' Tlie report in full is outereil in New England papers, vol. xxxii. p. Si6, 
S. P. 0. n. I. Col. Rec, iii. GO. 

- Oct. 2Stli Gov. "Winslow summoned the parties interested iu the secoud 
verdict, and after a full hearing confirmed the action of the Courtfof Com- 
missioners in favor of Harris. On 2d Nov. lie sent a report of the case to the 
King, now preserved among the Harris MSS., giving a clear statement of the 
questions involved in that case, and the reasons of his decision. 



DEATH OF WILLIAM HARRIS. 437 

seem that the pLaintiffs themselves refused to receive jdos- chap. 
session except in the terms of the verdict, which required ._1^ 
the defendants to run the hues. This they had not done, l <> 7 '.». 
and the marshal properly refused to do it, although urged 
to do so hy the plaintiffs. At any rate, the plaintiffs failed 
to point out the lands, and the marshal made his return j^' 
in accordance Avith these facts. The truth of this return 
was denied by the plaintiffs who collected evidence to im- 
peach it. Harris, resolute amid all these obstacles, im- 
mediately sailed for England for the fourth time. On this 25. 
occasion, besides his Pawtuxet business, he was the accred- 
ited agent of Connecticut in her claim against Rhode ifiio-so. 
Island for the Narraganset country. The ship was cap- '24.' 
tured by a Barbary corsair, and he, and other prisoners, 
were taken to Algiers, and sold in public market as slaves. 
For more than a year he remained in this sad situation, Feb. 
when his ransom was effected at a cost of twelve hundred -'^" 
dollars. The colony of Connecticut became responsible n^^i 
for the whole amount and contributed handsomely towards 
it. The money was afterwards refunded by his family. 
Landino; at Marseilles in the summer he travelled through 
France, and broken down by the trials of Turkish bondage, 
died in three days after reaching London. 

Thus perished one of the strong men of Rhode Island. 
He filled a large space in the early history of the colony, 
as an active, determined man, resolute in mind and vig- 
orous in body, delighting in conflict, bold in his views on 
the political dogmas of his time, fearless in his mode of ex- 
pressing them, striking always firmly, and often rashly, for 
what he believed to be the right, and denouncing with the 
energy of a concentrated intellect all men or measures 
that did not conform to his ideas of truth or of justice. 
His controversy with Roger Williams, we have before re- 
ferred to. It was never forgotten, and scarcely forgiven, 
by either of these great men, and presents the darkest blot 
that rests upon their characters. The public career of 



438 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND, 

CHAP. Harris was almost uninterrupted, except by his frequent 
.J.^^^ voyages, and these were always upon official business. As 
1G81. an assistant or a deputy, his name constantly occurs in 
connection with important trusts, and no man, unless it be 
his great opponent, has left a deeper mark upon the rec- 
ords of his State. 
10 8 2, The year following his deatli, another attempt was 
made to settle the controversy between Providence and 
Pawtuxet by mutual agreement. The line agreed upon 
narrowed the limits of the Pawtuxet purchase more than 
any previous attemj^t at adjustment had done. The same 
committee were to settle the Warwick dispute. Both at- 
tempts failed, and the line between Providence and War- 
wick was finally settled by the legislature in 1C9G, as it 
now exists, making the Pawtuxet river the boundary. 
This gave to Providence jurisdiction over the litigated 
tract, which was on tlie north side of the stream included 
in a bend of the river. The other controversy was main- 
tained at great cost, agents being em^doyed in England, 
and hearings had before the royal council as late as 1706, 
all to no practical result. It was finally settled by com- 
promise in May, 1712, when the line was run and bounds 
set up, reducing still further the limits of the Pawtuxet 
purchase. The moral conveyed in the result of this pro- 
tracted and costly litigation is apparent. 



THE STRUGGLE RENEWED. 439 



C H A P T E E XI. 

1G78— 1686. 

FROM THE RENEWAL OF THE STRUGGLE FOR THE SOIL OF 
RHODE ISLAND, 1G77-8, TO THE SUSPENSION OF THE CHAR- 
TER, JUNE, 168G. 

There are many periods of Khode Island history, xi. 
some of which we have already passed, that could not be "^' 
truly written without a free access to the archives of the 
British government. To no period does this remark ap- 
ply more fully than to tliat upon which we entered at the 
close of the preceding chapter. The Harris controversy 
is scarcely referred to in the State records, the council 
minutes having been sent to England as evidence. The 
struggle for jurisdiction tliat was now to be resumed on 
every side against Rhode Island, was soon transferred to 
the English Court, in whose archives alone its progress 
can be correctly traced. The disasters suffered by Rhode 
Island during Philip's war, furnished the occasion for a 
renewal of tlie disputes that, with one excej)tion, had 
been definitely settled by the royal commissioners of 1664. 
Even Connecticut, as we have seen, had acquiesced for a 
time in the decision of Sir Robert Carr, but soon took 
exceptions to that settlement based upon the absence of 
Col. Nichols, governor of New York, wlio was induced, 



440 HISTOKY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAi'. upon 110 valid grounds^ to dissent from the unanimous 
_!,_;_ decree of his colleagues in favor of Ehode Island. The 
war had for a time suspended the dispute in regard to the 
jurisdiction of Narraganset, but now her claims were put 
forward with increased energy, on the new ground that it 
belonged to her by right of confjuest — the same reason 
that had formerly been put forth l)y Massachusetts after 
the Pequot war. Massachusetts also entered the field 
again as a claimant, in behalf of the heirs of the Atlier- 
ton company ; and Plymouth, not satisfied with the de- 
cision that bounded her upon Narraganset bay, until the 
King's pleasure should be further known, injudiciously 
sought to re-open the question, assigning reasons for so 
doing that may well excite surprise. Thus the ancient 
controversies with all her neighbors were re-opened, and 
Ehode Island, weakened by pestilence and wasted by war, 
was again involved in the struggle for existence. 

It is not enough to say that, after nearly seventy years 
of furtlier contest, she came out more than victorious 
over all her opp(jnents, not only retaining the territory 
which they sought to wrest from her, but adding some- 
thing to it from two of them at least ; but we must trace 
the progress of the struggle, if we would have even a 
faint idea uf the difficulties that beset her. At one time 
it will appear as if all was lost, and that the colony must 
be absorbed by her ambitious sisters, and again the recu- 
perative energy of the sturdy "heretics'' will seem to 
have already won the battle. The plan of having resi- 
dent agents in London soon came from necessity to be 
adopted by each of the New England colonies, the record 
of whose acts, in many cases, can only be found among 
the archives of the home government. 

AVhile the era upon which we now enter is mcmonible 
for the above-named causes^ the present year is not less 
remarkable for the changes wrought by death in the chief 
magistrates of the colony. No less than three diflerent 



TAX LAW AMENDED. 441 

governors filled that place within five months, two of cifap. 
whom died in office. The lapse of forty years was telling jtl^^ 
the tale of mortality upon the founders of the State. 107 8. 
The first generation of Rhode Islanders was fast passing 
away. 

The force of the colony at this time was from one May 
thousand to twelve hundred freemen ahle to bear arms.' 
At the election Benedict Arnold was again chosen gover- 
nor, and Major John Cranston deputy governor. Gov. 
Arnold was then too ill to attend the Assembly, so that 
the 'engagement was administered to him by a committee 
at his own house. The tax law was further modified at 
this session, and as taxation without representation was 
one of the prime grievances which, a century later, roused 
the American colonies to arms, it is important to notice 
how early and deeply-rooted was this idea in the Rhode 
Island mind, and how frequently it appears upon the stat- 
ute book of the State. By an existing law - no tax could 
bo assessed without a full representation of deputies from 
all the towns. This was now amended so as to require 
legal notice to be given, by w^arrant from the governor, to 
every town, that a tax was to be assessed, without wliich 
notice no levy could l)e made.^ Since the creation of the 
office of major, during Philip's war, the choice of that 
oflScer had devolved upon the militia, but this was now 
changed, and all freemen were admitted to vote upon the 

' Report of Sir Edmund Andros to Board of Trade received 9th April, 
1G78, in reply to queries on the state of the New England colonies, addressed 
to him the day previous. A rougli draft of the seventeen queries is filed in 
Br. S. P. 0. New England, vol. ii. p. 1-iO, and the original answer on pp. 
HO, 150. By this the relative strength of the colonies may be a.scertained. 
Sir E. A. had lately returned from America, where he had been governor of 
New York, He estimates Connecticut force at 3000, Rhode Island 1000 to 
1200, Plymouth 1000 to 1500, and Massachu.setts 8 to 10,000. 

- Passed Nov. 6th, 1672. 

^ It was soon found necessary to repeal tliis act. The struggle to main- 
tain the rights of the colony in England often required money to be raised to 
meet emergencies, which could not be done promptly under this statute. It 
was therefore repealed in July, 1679. 



12. 



'442 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

question, provided tliey personally appeared to do so, upon 
election day. A permanent court-martial for the trial of 

1 G 7 8. delinquent soldiers was instituted, to consist of the major 
and a majority of the commissioned officers of the several 
military companies in the colony. A bankrupt law was 
also passed, based upon the statutes of Elizabeth and 
James. Five men were chosen as commissioners of bank- 
rupts, who were sworn to make a just and proportionate 
distribution of insolvent estates among the creditors. 
They were to notify parties interested to present their 
claims, and had full power to do all acts necessary to the 
fulfilment of their commissions.' This law, for some rea- 
son not apparent, could not stand the test of the first case 

June that was brought up for action under it, and was repealed 
within six weeks, at the beginning of the adjourned ses- 
sion of the Assembly. The conflict of land titles in Nar- 
raganset, among private owners as well as townships, led 
the Assembly to order a survey and plats to be made of 
the several tracts. They also required all purchasers, 
who held by Indian titles, to present their deeds to be 
passed upon by the Assembly, in order that the vacant 
lands might be known and should not be settled upon ex- 
cept by their order. Fast riding within the compact 
parts of Newport was forbidden under a penalty of five 
shillings, on account of an accident from that cause which 
had lately occurred. Constables were re-apj^ointed for the 
towns in Kings Province. 

A greater accuracy in the terms employed in framing- 
statutes is observable at this time. The additional words, 
" and by the authority thereof be it ordained, enacted, 
and declared," a])pcnded to the enacting clause of a law, 
whicli surplusage, with slight modifications, continued in 
use till a very recent date, appear for the first time at 

' The commissioners of bankrupts were the deputy governor, Major John 
C/ranston, the general treasurer, Peleg Sandford, John Coggeshall, the general 
recorder, John Sandford, and the attorney-general, Edward Richmond. 



DEATH OF GOVERNOK ARNOLD. 443 

this session. Again, the law of 1647 which empowered chap. 
the town councils to appoint an " executor " upon the es- ^^' 
tate of a deceased intestate, was amended hy substituting 
•for that term " the word administrator ; it being in that 
case the more proper and usual term in the law." Among 
the curiosities of legislation may here be cited the con- 
cluding clause of an act makmg a final settlement of the 
accounts of the late general sergeant, which it seems were 
so involved as to be beyond the power of the auditing 
committee to strike a balance. It was therefore voted to 
call the accounts square, " and that by this act there is a 
full and fynall issue of all differences relating to the said 
accounts from the beginuinge of the world unto this pres- 
ent Assembly ! " A more comprehensive statute cannot 
well be imagined. The military power, which during the 
war had been placed in the hands of the town councils, 
was now taken from them, and vested more completely in 
the major-general, who could call out all the troops for 
exercise at his pleasure, and was subject only to the orders 
of the Assembly, the governor, deputy-governor, or their 
council. 

Scarcely had the Assembly adjourned when Gov. Ar- -^• 
nold died. He had been a resident of Newj^ort for twen- 
ty-five years, having removed from Providence during the 
division that continued in the colony for more than a 
year after the revocation of Coddington's commission, and 
was very instrumental in effecting the subsequent recon- 
ciliation and union of the towns. From that time he 
was almost constantly in public office, first as a commis- 
sioner from Newport and then as assistant. For five 
years he was President of the colony under the old patent, 
and was named in the second charter as governor, which 
office he filled at seven different times by popular election. ' 
His liberal views and thorough appreciation of the Khode 

" He was elected a commissioner in 1G54, 165G — assistant in lijiii), 1(360- 
Gl— president in 1678-0, 1662-G3— governor in 1CG3-4-5-0, 1G70-1-77 and 
78, and died in liis sixty-fourth year. 



444 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP. Island idea of intellectual freedom, appear in the letters 
^y^ that-, as i)resident of the colony, he wrote in > reply to the 
10 78. arror^ant demands of the United Colonies, when thev iircced 
2u. the forcible eximlsion of the Quakers.^ That he was no 
friend of the doctrines, or advocate of the conduct, of the 
followers of Fox, is evident from his writings ; hut that, 
like Williams, he recognized the distinction between per- 
secution and opposition, between legal force and moral 
suasion, as ajiplied to matters of opinion, is equally ap- 
parent. In politics and theology ho was alike the oppo- 
nent of Coddington and the friend of John Clarke, and 
throughout his long and useful life he displayed talents 
of a brilliant order, which were ever employed for the wel- 
fare of his fellow-men. 
July Active demonstrations were soon made both here and 

in England by the several claimants for the soil of Rhode 
Island. The first of these proceeded from Plymouth in 
a letter to the King, recounting the disasters sustained 
by that colony during the war. It goes on to say, " our 
neighbors of Rliode Island were once so ungrateful, after 
we had freely given them the said island,'-^ to accommodate 
them in their distress when banished by the Massachu- 
setts, that by misinformation they obtained from your 
Majesty a good quantity of the best of our land on the 
maine, the same that we now call conquest lands, but 
better informed by your eonmiands, you were pleased to 

' These two letters arc printed in R. I. Col. Rec, i. pp. 370-80. 

- The claim here set vip that Aquidneck was "freely given," is somewhat 
remarkable in view of the fact that when Williams and Clarke, with the An- 
tinoniian committee, went to Plymouth early in March, 1637-8, to inquire 
about their contemplated settlement at >Sowams, that spot was claimed " as 
the garden of Plymouth patent," and the applicants v.'cre advised to select the 
other location, which they had also in view, Aquidneck, because it was be- 
yond the limits of Plymouth patent. Sec Clarl-:e's Xarrativo, or 111 News 
from New England, p. 2i-5, and ante chap. ii. Now, forty, years later, 
they claim, to the King, that the island was " freely given," and charge Rhode 
I.^land with being " ungrateful " for the signal favor of having received at 
their hands Avhat they admitted at the beginning did not belong to them. 



ACTS OF PLYMOUTH AND MASSACHUSETTS. 445 

return it again to us. We have reason to fear tliey are chap. 
coveting it, or part of it, again, and it may bee some of ^_i_ 
them will pretende to have a right of purchase of the In- l 6 " J^. 
dians, &c." It next assails the conduct of Ehode Island 
during the war, in these words: "The truth is the au- ' '' 
thority of Ehode Island being all the time of the warr in 
the hands of Quakers, they scarcely showed an English 
spirit, either in assisting us, their distressed neighbors, or 
relieving their own plantations upon the Mayne,' but 
when, by God's blessing upon our forces, the enemy was 
routed and almost subdued, they tooke in many of our 
enemyes that were flying before us, thereby making profit 
by our expence of blood and treasure," &c.'^ 

These extracts indicate the spirit of the opponents of 
Rhode Island, and the new line of policy they had adopted 
to obtain their ends. 

The proceedings of Massachusetts and of her agents 
in England were equally decisive. A printed advertise- 
ment was struck off in Boston, and soon afterward posted o,, 
in the town of Newport, signed by a committee of the 
Narraganset proprietors, in right of the Atherton pur- 
chasers, offering for sale, upon advantageous terms to ac- 
tual settlers, tracts of land in that country, and describing 
it as being within the jurisdiction of Connecticut.^ 

' Tliere is more truth than poetry in tins clause of the sentence, and in- 
deed it is the only truth contained in the whole paragraph. But if tiie main- 
land towns, appreciating the reasons of the neglect they certainly experienced 
from the island, failed to complain very much about it, we see no cause why 
Plymouth should vex herself in their behalf; and it comes with" an ill grace 
from one of the United Colonies when they had wantonly made Rhode Island 
their battle ground, and then failed to leave a garrison within her borders af- 
ter the great swamp fight. 

- This letter, dated 13th July, 1677, and signed " Natli. Morton, Secy., by 
order of the Gi-eat Court," is entered in Br. S. P. O. New England papers, 
vol. xsxiii. p. 5. 

■' Tbis handbill is signed by Simon Bradstrect, Jobii Saffiu and Elislia 
Hutchinson, and is preserved in New England papers, vol. iii. p. 4 15. Br. S. 
P. 0., and printed in R. I. Col. Rec, vol. iii. p. 18, from a copy in Mr. 
Brown's MSS. 



446 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP. The course pursued by Holden and Greene, as the 

_i^_;^ agents of Warwick in the Harris case, opened the whole 
16 78. discussion of the past conduct of Massachusetts. They 
had protested against having any Massachusetts referees 
in a matter where their town was concerned. This drew 
an answer from the agents of that colony,^ wherein they 
incautiously ventured upon a sketch of the early history 
Atig. of Warwick, defending the acts of Massachusetts, assail- 
ing the character of the petitioners, and charging Khode 
Island with disloyalty upon sundry occasions. This was 
an unfortunate train of argument for the respondents to 
adopt. The Warwick men at once retorted with grent 
, severity in a petition, relating the facts of the case, ex- 
posing the fallacies of their opponents, repelling their at- 
tacks upon the loyalty of Eliode Island, adducing record 
proofs of the disloyalty of Massachusetts, and concluding 
with a series of requests ; first, that a Supreme Court of 
judicature over all the colonies may be erected in New 
England, whereby equal justice may be rendered, boun- 
dary disputes be adjusted, and civil war, wdiicli must oth- 
erwise result from " the oppressions of an insulting and 
tyrannical government," may be averted ; second, that 
the royal letter of 16GG, confirming the acts of the com- 
missioners in behalf of Ehode Island, may be renewed ; 
third, that Connecticut may be compelled to restore the 
town of Westerly, lately taken from Rhode Island by 
force ; and lastly, that the decisions of Massachusetts 
against Warwick men, especially the decree of banish- 
ment against Randall Holden, now of thirty-five years 
standing, may be annulled.- The petition was accompa- 
nied by a number of documents going back to the pur- 

' ^\'illi:un Stonglitou and Peter Bulkely. Their answer is of the same 
date in London as the handhill in Boston, July 30th, 1G78. The original 
paper is in Br. S. P. 0., vol. iii. p. 47, of New England papers. 
1 " The original of this masterly state paper, as conclnsive as it is severe, 

is filed in the Br. S. P. 0. New England papers, vol. iii. p.24-7. 



COUNTER ACTS OF RHODE ISLAND. 447 

chase of Warwick, and coiToborating the positions ad- 
vanced by its autliors.^ 

The General Assembly at the adjourned session pro- 
ceeded at once to til] the vacancy in the office of gover- 
nor, and William Coddington was chosen. A committee 
waited npon Mrs. Arnold, widow of the deceased gover- 
nor, to obtain the charter and other public papers, late in 
the official custody of her husband. Attention was called 
to the Atherton handbill, which had been set up in Nar- 
raganset by John Saffin, one of the signers, " whoe forth-, 
with tied off the island from the hands of justice."'' A 
declaration of ownership by Khode Island, and prohibi- 
tion to all persons against settling upon the lands without 
leave of the Assembly, was immediately passed ; copies 
of it were sent to every town in the colony, to be j^osted 

' These documenls are not filed with the petition, but are found scattered 
among the papers iu the same and other volumes, with other evidence pre- 
sented at different times by Holden and Greene, upon these and other points 
connected with their mission. Seven of these documents are contained in 
pages 2 to 6 of the same vol. iii. of New England papers, viz., Submission of 
Narragansets, lOtli April, 104-1. Reception thereof by the commissioners, 
20th March, 16(54. Warning sent by Warwick to Massachusetts men, 
28th Sept., 1G43. Sentence of Massachusetts Court against Gorton, od 
Nov., 1643. Naming and bounding of Kings Province, 20th March, 1664. 
Appointment of Rhode Island officers as justices there, 8th April, 16C.5. 
Cartwright's letter to Gorton, 2Gth May, 1GG5. The facts of which these 
and many other papers deposited at this period are confirmatory evidence wc 
have stated in their proper place, but have not befere mentioned where the 
official copies, if sought for, may be found. Although sent originally by 
Warwick upon the Harris land case, the general business of the colony soon fell 
into their hands. The colony agents, Sandford and Bailey, appointed 24th 
Blay, 1677, did not go to England. The Warwick men showed themselves 
fully competent for the most difficult labors of negotiation or of defence, and 
upon their return the Assembly, in July, lu79, voted them the sum of sixty 
pounds, of which forty-five pounds had been disbursed by them on the colo- 
ny's account in England, and the balance was for their passage home. 

'■^ He was afterwards arrested and imprisoned under a warrant issued by 
Gov. Cranston, 14th April, 1679. MS. files of Mass. Hist. Soc, and a let. 
ter was sent by Massachusetts to Rhode Island, 3d June, demanding his re- 
lease — Trumbull papers, vol. xxii. No. 95 — but no notice was taken of it by 
the Rhode Island Assembly. He was tried, fined, and his estate forfeited. 



448 HISTOEY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, in consi-)icnoiTs places, and the act was irablislied by beat 

^^_^ of drum in the town of Newport. 

1 fi 7 8. A case involving tlie question of the revising power of 

the Assembly over the proceedings of the General Court of 
Trials, which has since been often agitated in this State, 
was presented ; the action upon which shoAvs that the im- 
portance of an independent judiciary was felt at that early 
day, and that the Assembly clearly understood their legit- 
imate powers, and had no desire to exceed them. The 
case of Sandford against Forstcr had been twice legally 
tried by the Court, wlien one Colson petitioned the legis- 
lature, in behalf of the defendant, for a reversal of judgment. 
We rpiote the language of the vote upon this petition : 
" This Assembly conceive that it doth not properly belong 
to them, or anywise within their recognizance, to judge oi- 
to reverse any sentence or judgment passed by the Gencr- 
all C'Ourt of Tryalls, according to law, except capitall or 
criminall cases, or mulct or fines." 
()ct. When the next regular session of the Assembly was 

held, Governor Coddington was on his death-bed. " He 
died November 1st, in the seventy-eighth year of his age, a 
good man, full of days." ' He was a man of vigorous in- 
tellect, of strong passions, earnest in whatever he under- 
took, and self-reliant in all his actions. Such a man could 
not fail to occupy a prominent place in any community. 
He Avas one of the Assistants of the Massachusetts Com- 
pany in England, came over with it to America, and was- 
a leading merchant in Boston, where he Ijuiit the first brick 
house. With the larger number of the more liberal and 
educated people of that town, he espoused the Antinomian 
views, and upon the overthrow of that cause, emigrated to 
Aquedneck, which island he purchased in his own name 
for himself and associates. He was made the first judge 
or chief magistrate of the new colony, and continued to be 
its governor till the union of the towns under the first 

■ Calleuder's Dedication, p. 52, 11. I. H. C, iv. 



;;(i. 



DEATH OF GOVERNOR CODDINGTOxV. 449 

patent. In Newport he was the first person who ever en- chap. 
gaged in commerce. The distraction that prevailed in the ^^. 
colony was no doubt the motive of liis voyage to England 16 7 8. 
to obtain a commission as governor of the island for life. 
This was a direct, and as the event proved, an unwarranted 
usurpation, in which he was opposed by Clarke, Arnold, and 
nearly all the freemen of the island, and for which we can 
best account in the words of one who thoroughly appreci- 
ated the principles and the men of early Khode Island. 
'" He had in him a little too much of the future for Mas- 
sachusetts, and a little too much of the past for Khode 
Island, as she then was.'"' ^ After the revocation of his 
power he led a retired life for many years. During this 
interval, he embraced the views of the Friends, and was 
distinguished for his zeal in their cause, and the vigor with 
which he combated those avIio differed from his opinions. 
Latterly he had engaged to some extent in public affairs. 
He was once elected deputy governor and three times gov- 
ernor, in which office he died.- 

The Assembly adjourned till the following Monday, 4. 
when Conanicut island w^as incorporated as a township: 
and called Jamestown in honor of the King. Another ad- 
journment then took place, probably for the funeral of Gov. 
Coddington, after which the chief business of the session 
was transacted. The deputy governor, John Cranston, was 
then elected Governor, and the first Assistant from New- 
port, James Barker, was chosen deputy governor. Each 
took the engagement to his new office and was formally ab- 
solved from his previous ofticial engagements. The two 
Assistants next to Barker were each raised one step with- 
out taking a new engagement, and a third Assistant, Caleb 
Carr, was elected and engaged. The charter and other 

' Chief Justice Diu-fee's Historical Discourse, p. ] G. 

- He was a deputy from Newport in March, 16GG, and an assistant in Oc- 
tober of that year. In 1G73 he was chosen deputy governor, and the two 
following j-ears governor, and again in August, 1078, by the Assembly. 

VOL. I — 29 



450 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

papers, as usual, were obtained from Mrs. Coddington and 
placed in custody of tire new governor. The duplicate 
copy of the charter, which had hitherto heen kept by John 
Clarke, was also obtained from his executors, and has ever 
since been preserved, first in the custody of the deputy 
governor, and then by the General Assembly in the Secre- 
tary's ofiice.^ 
15. A rate of three hundred pounds was laid. As this was 

the first tax assessed since the war, the great disproportion 
observed in its allotments, indicates the relative degree in 
which the towns had suffered. A comparison of this with 
previous taxes will show how recent events had affected 
the prosperity of different portions of the colony. New- 
port was assessed one hundred and thirty-six pounds, Ports- 
mouth sixty-eight, New Shoreham and Jamestown each 
twenty-nine. Providence ten, Warwick eight, Kingston 
sixteen, one-half of which was afterwards remitted, East 
Greenwich and Westerly two pounds each. Thus it will 
be seen that while every town bore its share, the two towns 
on Aquedneck paid more than two-thirds of the whole 
levy, the three islands together paid seven-eighths of the 
tax, and the five mainland towns less than one-eighth. 
So great a disproportion has never been observed before or 
since. The prices placed upon articles of food and rai- 
ment, in commutation of this tax, give us valuable infor- 
mation as to the cost of living at this time. Fresh pork 
was valued at two pence a pound, salted and well packed 
pork, fifty shillings a barrel, fresh beef twelve shillings a 
hundred weight, packed beef, in barrels, thirty shillings a 

' At the January session of the present year, 1858, it was " Resolved, 
Tliat the Secretary cause the original charter, granted to this State when a 
colony, hy King Charles II., and the copy thereof, to be framed and protected, 
in such manner as to ensure their preservation; and that he deposit the du- 
plicate of said charter in the cabinet of the Rhode Island Historical Society, 
for safe keeping ; and that the cost of such frames be allowed and paid out 
of tlie State Treasury, upon the order of the State auditor." This has ac- 
cordingly been done. 



THE WAKWICK AGENTS IN ENGLAND. 451 

hundred, pease, and barley malt, two and sixpence a busli- chap. 
el, corn and barley, two shillings, washed wool, sixpence a ._^!_ 
pound, and good firkin butter, five pence.' Most of this 16 78. 
tax was paid in wool, and the price reduced to five pence. ^q' 
A report of the proceedings of the Court of Commissioners 
at Providence upon the Harris land cases, presented by 
the two Rhode Island members of that tribunal, was or- 
dered to be forwarded to his Majesty, which was done, with 
a letter from the governor.'-^ 

The Warwick agents were fully employed at this time, ^'" 
not only with their immediate business, but in a defence 
of the rights of the colony, incidentally forced upon them 
by her opponents. Richard Smith, in behalf of the Nar- 
raganset proprietors, had sent a petition to the King, set- 
ting forth the Connecticut claim, and the defenceless con- 
dition of Rhode Island during the war, and praying that 
their country with the adjacent islands, Conanicut, Dutch, 
Patience, and Hope, might be restored to Connecticut. 
The matter was referred to the Board of Trade, and Hol- 
den and Greene were called upon for information on the 
subject, and to answer the averments of the petitioners.^ 
This they did, in behalf of the colony, with signal ability, 
defending the claim of Rhode Island under the charter, 
and vindicating her conduct in the war.'* The printed ad- 
vertisement of the Narraganset lands, having been sent out 

' A comparison of this tax with that levied for the same amount in June, 
1G70, forcibly illustrates the changes wrought by the war. A like com- 
parison of prices with those current in Oct., 1G70, shows a large decline 
iu all the staple articles of life, while the relative values of English 
and colonial currency, as there stated, remained about the same, and k 
hence the reduction of sterling to federal money, there given, will answer for 
this period. 

- The letter is filed in Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. xxxii. p. 344. 

' The original petition and order in council thereupon, July 3d, 1G78, are 
in New England papers, vol. iii. p. 38-40, Br. S. P. 0., and are printed in R. 
I, Col. Rec, iii. 50-1. 

* The original paper is in Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. iii. p. 42 — 
printed in R. I. Col. Rec, iii. GO-2. 



452 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, to Holden and Greene, was presented "by them to the roj^al 
.^^^^ council, and an order was at once issued for the Massachu- 
16 78. setts agents to appear and show upon what title the lands 
4 ■ were claimed.' Staughton and Bulkeley informed the 
council that it was a private claim. This admission, to- 
gether with the representations of Holden and Greene in 
• answer to Smith's petition, were embodied in an order of 
2g_ council,'- issued the same day, requiring that notice should 
be sent to New England to leave Kings Province in its 
present condition, and that those who claimed ownership 
or jurisdiction there, should forthwith send agents to prove 
their rights before the King. The following week, upon 
-'^- petition of Eandal Holden, a peremptory order was issued 
annulling the sentence of banishment passed by the Mas- 
sachusetts Court against Holden and his associates, the 
men of Warwick, thirty-five years before, and command- 
ing the said Court to repeal the same and to allow these 
persons, at all times, free access within their jurisdiction. 
The terms of this order were unusually decided, and indi- 
cate a strong feeling of condemnation, in the royal coun- 
cil, at the arbitrary conduct of Massachusetts towards the 
adherents of Gorton.^' 
g The Warwick men having concluded their mission in 

Jau. England were about to return home, when another matter 
occurred to cause their delay for a few weeks. John 
Crowne petitioned for the grant of Mount Hope, lately 
conquered from the Indians, as an offset to losses sustain- 
ed by his family in the King's service in Acadia.*" A 
note was addressed by the council to the agents of Massa- 
chusetts and of A¥arwick, inquiring about the extent, 

^ This order is entered iu vol. xxxii. p. 295, New England papers, Br. S. 
P. 0. See R. I. Col. Eec, iii. 62. 

- New England papers, vol. xxxii. p. o08, Cr. S. V. O. R. I. Col. Rec, 
iii. 63. 

^ The original petition is in Br. S. P. 0., New England papers, vol. iii. p. 
41), and tlie order npon it is in vol. xxxii. p. 312. • i - 

' Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. iii. p. 52. • ■ • . 



24. 



CLAIMANTS OF MOUNT HOPE. 453 

value, and proprietorship of Mount Hope.' To this Hoi- chap. 
den and Greene replied that the tract contained about four ^j[:^ 
thousand acres, was worth as many pounds, and that the l G 7 9. 
propriety was in the King. Staughton and Bulkeley ^f " 
estimated it at about six thousand acres, could not judge 
of the value, and claimed that it Avas included in Plymouth 
patent."^ The diversity of these replies led the council to *J- 
order that inquiries on the same points be made to the 
four colonies in the same letter that was preparing to be 
sent to them concerning Narraganset.^ This letter, draft- 
ed in accordance with the order in council of two months 
before, recapitulated the points in dispute about Narra- 
ganset, and required claimants to send agents to England 12. 
to prove their rights. It also made inquiries about Mount 
Hope,^ and became, as we shall see, a fruitful source of 
contention in a few months.' 

At the next General Assembly all the towns except i'-' 
Westerly and Kingstown were represented by deputies. 
As we have before stated, it was the custom to organize 
on the day previous to the election in order to admit free- 
men. Those who had been received as freemen of the 
towns were, on these occasions, made freemen of the colony. 
Although in fact but one session, the two Assemblies, one 
meeting the day before and the other upon election day, 
were technically considered as distinct bodies, as indeed 
they were, and the towns chose their deputies for the 
spring sessions to attend both Assemblies. The changes 

' Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. xxxii. p. IS. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. -38. 

- The origiuals of these two replies are in Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. 
iii. pp. 50, 53. R. I. Col. Rec., iil. 37-8. 

' Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. xxxii. p. 336. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 38. 

^ The Mount Hope matter was settled in favor of Plymouth, by Report of 
the Board of Trade, 4th Dec, 1679, approved by the Coimcil 21st Dec. Br. 
S. P. 0., New England, vol. iii. p. 34-7, and confirmed by royal letter, l2th 
Jan., 1679-80, vol. xxxii. p. 315 — granting their petition of 1st July, 1679, 
vol. xxxiii. p. 15, R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 64-6. 

^ Br. S. P. 0., New England, voL xxxii. p. 33S. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 40. 
I M. H. C, V. 221. 



454 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, made on election day were among tlie general officers and 
^J^^^^^ Assistants, who were chosen by popular vote. The meetings 
1 G 7 0. of the Assembly were held at hotels or in private houses. 
^^ The vote of those present was by ballot, collected in a hat. 
Proxy votes were opened by a committee, and the Re- 
corder made a list of the names of all those who voted. 
7. At this election, the choice of John Cranston as governor, 
made by the Assembly upon the death of Coddington, was 
confirmed by the people, and Walter Clarke was elected 
deputy governor. 

A custom had grown up " among sundry persons, being 
evill-minded," of overworking their own servants, and of 
hiring other men's servants and under-letting them, to la- 
bor on Sunday. A law was passed to prevent this inhu- 
manity, and also to forbid gaming, sporting, and tijipling 
on the first day of the week, under penalty of the stocks, 
or a fine. The frauds practised by sailor landlords upon 
seamen, caused a law to be passed that no such person, 
who should trust a sailor, that had been shipped, for a 
sum greater than five shillings, without an order from his 
captain, could recover the del)t ; and should he attempt 
to do so he rendered himself liable for damages at the suit 
of the master. The master of every vessel of over twenty 
tons burthen was required to report himself to the head of- 
ficer of the town upon ari'ival and departure, and if over ten 
days in port then to set up notice in two jDublic places in 
. the town three days before sailing.' This act was passed in 
view of the Enghsh acts of trade and navigation which 
afterwards became so fruitful a source of contention be- 
tween the mother country and her American colonies. 

The colony now adopted the rule of paying the neces- 
sary expenses of the members of the Assembly, and also of 
the Court of Trials, for board and lodging during their at- 

' This latter regulation still exists in some countries and is applied to all 
travellers, who, as in Russia at this day, miist advertise their intention to 
leave, that creditors may have full notice. 



RENEWED STRIFE FOR KINGS PROVINCE. 455 

tendance. The sums collected by fines and forfeitures chap. 
were appropriated to this purpose. The law of 1658 to ..^.l^J^ 
prevent innovation in the government of the colony was l f' 7 ii 
revised, pronouncing forfeiture of the entire estates of all 
persons who should subject their lands, lying within the 
jurisdiction of this colony, to that of any other government. 
There was ample occasion for severe legislation upon this 
point. The settlement of Narraganset by Khode Island 
men had attracted the attention of Connecticut, and drawn 
from that colony a letter demanding the recall of those 
settlers ; to which Rhode Island replied, regretting a re- 
newal of the strife, but asserting her claim, and looking 
for justice to God and the King.' The General Assembly 
of Connecticut appointed officers in Narraganset, and em- ^• 
powered the governor and council to jjunish intruders, to 
treat with Rhode Island, and to settle the country. 

Upon the return of the Warwick agents bearing the 
royal letter of inquiry concerning Narraganset and Mount 
Hope, the governor, by warrant, convened the Assembly. 
A prohibition was sent to Westerly and Kingstown for- 
bidding any persons from there exercising authority under 
any other government, and requiring all the residents of 
Kings Province to render obedience to tliis.'-^ The magis- 
trates were required to hold courts in Kings Province as 
often as the governor should see cause, the better to en- 
force the King's commands. The arrival of Sir Edmund 
Andros, governor of New York, being daily expected, pro- 
vision was made for his reception at the puljlic expense. 
He was then on his way home, and was maldng the tour 
'of New England under orders to report upon the condition 
of these colonies. It happened fortunately for Rhode 
Island, when a few years later she, with the rest of New 

■ The two letters, dated April 7th and 21st, 1679, are in vol. i. p. 240-4 
of MS. copies of Conn, records in the cabinet of the R. I. Hist. Soc. 

- The prohibition i.s entered upon the record.?, and is in 11. I. Col. Rec, iii. 
40-2. 



Juiv 
!t." 



29 



456 HISTOEY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP. England, was placed under Ms government, that this 
J^^ timely civility had been shown to the royal governor ; 
1 G 7 y. hut at this time no such calamity could have heen antici- 
'' " ^' pated, , ; ■ : I 

|(, A warrant was issued for the arrest of Eicliard Smith 

on account of his petition to the King on behalf of Con- 
necticut. He was to be examined preparatory to drafting 
the letter that was to be sent to England in reply to the 
royal missive brought by Holdcn and Greene. A survey of 
Mount Hope was ordered to be made for the same purpose, 
and other examinations, in respect to Narraganset, were 
-^- made on each side of the question. The testimonies of 
John Greene and of Roger Williams w^ere taken upon the 
facts of the first settlement of Narraganset by Richard 
Smith, and a lengthy petition was signed by a large num- 
ber of the people of Narraganset praying that they may be 
erected into a distinct government.' The letter of Rhode 
" }'■'■ Island to the King was accompanied by a plan of Mount 
Hope, which tract was supposed to contain about seven 
thousand acres and was valued at three thousand pounds, 
and it asked that Kings Province may be preserved to 
Rhode Island as accorded in the charter." The United 
'•'"'■ Colonies in their reply to the royal letter claimed Mount 
Hope for Plymouth and Narraganset for Connecticut, 
and indulged in the usual vituperation of Rhode Island.^ 
-*-'pt- A court was held at Westerly, in his Majesty's name, 

by the magistrates of Rhode Island, at which an oath of • 
allegiance to the King and fidelity to the colony was ad- 
ministered, and signed by thirty-three freemen. The Con- 
necticut Court for that county was then sitting at New 
London. A protest was sent by Governor Leete upon this 
subject. A prompt reply was j-eturned by Governor Cran- 

' Tliese papers are all fil'-d in Br. S. P. 0., Now England, vol. iii. jjp. 44, 
GS, 60, CC. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 52, 5G-G0. 

- Original of tins letter is in New England papers, vol. iii. p. 59, in Br. S. 
P. O., R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 43-G, 1 M. H. C, v. 223. ,-■ , ,, i, . 

» 1 M. H. C. V. 226. Not found in Br. S. P. 0. . -, i . 



KINGS PROVINCE DISPUTE. 457 

ston, justifying the proceedings of the Ehode Island Court. 
The same energetic course was pursued by the Court of 
Trials, John Saffin, one of the signers of the obnoxious 
handbill, before described, and who had posted the same 
in Newport, having been arrested, was imprisoned, tried, 
and sentenced to pay a fine and to forfeit his estates in 
Narraganset. Richard Smith was arraigned at the same 
term but discharged, owing to a flaw in the indictment.' 

The Connecticut Assembly, in compliance with the ^j^^' 
King's command, empowered the council to send an agent 
to England to defend the claim of that colony to Narra- 
ganset, and designated William Harris of Pawtuxet as a 
suitable person. They also disavowed the late Court held 
by Governor Cranston at Westerly, forbidding the inhabi- 
tants of Stonington in any way to recognize the same, and 
protested against any other act of jurisdiction heretofore, 
or hereafter to be, exercised by Rhode Island in the Nar- 
raganset country, Massachusetts also resented the griev- 
ances of her people, and upon the suit of John Saffin ar- "^' 
rested Capt. John Albro, an Assistant of Rhode Island, 
then in Boston. He was discharged at once, and the 
slight expense incurred by this annoyance was met by the 
Assembly. This body met at the usual time and contin- ;30. 
ued in session, with several adjournments, more than two 
months. Their first action was upon a petition from the 
town of Westerly that the western line of the colony 
should be run. It was voted to do so, surveyors were ap- 'jq ' 
pointed, and notice was sent to Connecticut requesting the 
concurrence of that colony in the survey. This was a cool 
rejoinder to the recent fulminations from that quarter, but 
was perhaps the best notice that could be taken of them. 

The same subject was at this time occupying the royal 
council. A brief historical sketch of Narraganset, drawn 

' This was at tbe May term of the Court. Letters from Saffin and Smitli, 
dated May 2od and 26tli, to Sec. Allen of Connecticut, giving an account of 
their trial are in MS. records of Conn., vol. i. p. 250-2, in R. I. Hist. Soc. 



Dec. 

4. 



458 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, up ^y Holden and Greene, was read,' and a full report 
^,i^ '^as made by tlie Board of Trade soon after, upon tlie gov- 
1 (> 7 0. ernment and propriety of Kings Province, reciting the 

progress of the dispute to this period, and recommending 
1 that a commission be sent out to examine the subject, as 

it was too comjDlicated for the Board to decide.^ 

11. Connecticut replied to the la.st proposition of Rhode 
Island, refusing to run the line, and giving notice of the 
appointment of an agent to adjust the dispute in England 

j.jjj ■ that Rhode Island might also send one if she chose." At 
^- an adjourned meeting of the General Assembly, a letter 
v/as addressed to the King, advising his Majesty of the ap- 
pointment of an agent by Connecticut, and asking that 
time may be allowed to Rhode Island to make her reply 
before final judgment in the case.^ 

12. The grant of Mount Hope to Plymouth by royal let- 
ter 5 decided the petition of John Crovv^ne, so long pending 

I'vh. before the council. He then made a new application, pe- 
titioning the King for the grant of Boston neck in Narra- 
gansct.° This, like its predecessor, was referred to the 
Board of Trade, and met the same fate. The lands of 
Potawomet, about wdiich there had been frequent conten- 

''^^'^ ' tion between Warwick and her neighbors, both Indian and 
English, were finally disposed of in town meeting, by di- 
vision into fifty equal parts or rights, and the names of the 
proprietors were inserted on the records.'' 

A letter containing tv/enty-seven queries from the 

^^'- Board of Trade, relating to the condition of Rhode Island, 

■ Br. S. p. 0., New Eug. vol. iii. p. 45. 

" Tliis report is -witboiit date, in Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. iii. p. 12- 
13. 

^ Conn. MSS., vol. i. p. 204 in R. I. Hist. Soc. A copy of the Connecti- 
cut instructions to W. Harris is in Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. iii. p. 107. 

« Original filed in Br. R. P. 0., New Eng. vol. iii. p. 93, R. I. CoL 
Rec, iii. 76. 

^ N. E., vol. xxsii. p. 315, Br. H. P. 0. 

" N. E., vol. iii. p. 55, Br. S. P. 0. ; ' -; . 

' Warwick records, March Sth, 1G80. ■ - 



lAIav. 



DEATH OF GOVEENOR CRANSTON, 459 

having been received, was probably tlic cause of a special chap. 
meeting of the Assembly. A committee of seventeen per- .^^^ 
sons was appointed to collect the necessary information in 1 6 8 0. 
reply. The severe illness of the governor compelled an ad- n 
journment. He expired the next day, being the third gov- 12. 
ernor who had died in office within two years. 

Governor John Cranston had borne a distinguished 
part in the history of the colony, and filled the highest 
military and civil positions in its gift. He was the first 
who ever held the place of Major-general, having been se- 
lected to command all the militia of the colony during 
Philip's Avar, and he was the father of a future governor 
who became still more distinguished for his protracted 
public service. Major Peleg Sandford was elected by the ic. 
Assembly to fill the vacancy. This was confirmed by the 
people at the general election, and Walter Clarke was 
again chosen deputy governor. A bell was now provided 
for calling together the Assembly, the Courts, and the 
Council, and ordered to be set up in some convenient place, 
A committee was appointed to make a digest of the laws 
" that they may be putt in print." ' The prudent limita- 
tion of the power to be exercised over the Courts, prescribed 
by a previous Assembly,'^ was swept away at this session' 
by a vote " that in all actionall cases brought to the 
Generall Courts of Tryalls, if either plaintiff or defendant 
be aggrieved after judgment entered in Court, they may 
and have liberty to make their appeale to the next Gen- 
erall Assembly for reliefe, provided such appeale be made 
in the Kecorder's office tenn days' time after judgment en- 
tered as aforesaid ; as also such person or persons soe ap- 
pealinge, shall first jiay cost of Court, and give in bond as 

' We infer that tliey did not discharge tlie whole of tlieir duties, as the 
earliest printed copy of the laws now known is dated 1719, and repeated at- 
tempts were vainly made by the home government to procure from Rhode Isl- 
and a copy of the laws, as we shall presently see ; and this could not have 
been the case had a digest been provided. 

* August, 1G78 



460 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, in case of review, and tliereupon execution shall be stopped 
^^' till the determination of the Assembly be knowne." It 

16 8 0. should be remembered that the General Court of Trials 
was composed of the Greneral Council, being the governor 
and assistants, or what afterwards became the upper house 
of Assembly, who, at this time, formed a part of the Gen- 
eral Assembly sitting as one body ; and it was not till 
nearly seventy years later that a reorganization of the 
Courts effected a complete separation of the legislative 
from the judicial branches of the Government. An alter- 
ation in the time of holding the Courts of Trials was made, 
as they often interfered with the sessions of the Assembly, 
They were hereafter to be held on the last Tuesday in March 
and the first Tuesday in September, instead of in May and 
October as heretofore. The pay of members of both bodies 
was fixed at seven shillings a week. The statistical ac- 
count of Rhode Island, in reply to the iii(|uiries of the 
Board of Trade, having been completed, it was sent, with 
S. a letter from the governor, to England. ^ 

The dispute with Connecticut continued with unabated 
violence. That colony attempted to set up Catopeci, a 
Pequot, as joint Sachem of the Niantics with Weeounk- 
hass, daughter of the deceased Ninigret, and hereditary 
queen of the tribe. The same policy that had placed the 
usurper Uncas at the head of the Mohegans, now sought 
to distract the remnant of the once powerful Narragansets 
who remained faithful to Rhode Island. The injured 
queen petitioned the King against this violation of her 
rights, setting forth the conduct of Connecticut, and 
of the Atherton purchasers, as alike prejudicial to his 
Majesty, to herself, and to Rhode Island, and praying that 

■ The original replies and letter are filed in Br. S. P. 0., New England, 
vol. iii. pp. 115-121. As this is the earliest official information upon these 
points, and gives some interesting foots, we insert the substance in Appendix 
F. The queries may be gathered from the replies. They were addressed to 
all the colonies, and are printed in Anti(iuities of Connecticut, p. 130. Hart- 
ford, 183G. 



ARRESTS AND REPRISALS. 461 

the jurisdiction of the country might be left, as it ever had chap. 
been, in the hands of the latter.' A constable of Stoning- .3^ 
ton was seized by warrant of Governor Sandford, for exer- l (• 8 0. 
cising authority in Westerly, by arresting one Wells upon ' " -^ ' 
a warrant from Connecticut, and carried to Newport. A ^ 
sharp letter from the Connecticut council followed, de- 
manding his release, and for peace' sake agreeing " not to 
meddle on the east side of Pawcatuck river " till the mat- 
ter was decided in England. The governor replied, giving 
the reason for the arrest, but retaining the prisoner for y. 
trial. The council issued a formal protest against the 
conduct of Ehode Island, to be published by the marshal 
of Stonington on both sides of the river, prohibiting the ^'^■ 
recognition of any authority not derived from them. They 
also wrote a letter to the Board of Trade containing seven 
pleas for their claim to the jurisdiction and soil of Narra- 
ganset.' Further than this they proceeded to make re- 
prisals. The marshal and his posse bi'oke open the house 
of Joseph Clarke in Westerly, before sunrise, and carried 
him off as a prisoner. The governor and council of Khode 
Island and Kings Province demanded his release, in a let- '23. 
ter setting forth their right of jurisdiction, both by charter 
and commission, over the invaded district. Clarke was 
released upon recognizance in the sum of two hundred 
pounds sterling for his appearance at the October term. 
Connecticut replied, placing the seizure of Clarke on the 09. 
ground of retaliation, denying the allegations of the Ehode 
Island letter, and asserting her claims to Kings Province. 
Mr. Blathwayt, secretary of the royal council, wrote to 
Randal Holden and John Greene concerning the boundary 
dispute, and also the Warwick case with Harris. In their 

' The originMl petition, translated by Job Babcock, interpreter, dated 4th 
April, 1680, and signed " Weeounkhass, the Queen in the Nihantick Cuntrey 
in the Kings Province in New England — with the consent of her Counsell," is 
in Br. S. P. O., New England, vol. iii. p. 77. 

^ Antiquities of Connecticut, p. 128. 



462 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, reply, a minute account of tlie history of Narraganset and 
^^ the grounds of the Ehode Island claim is given.' The 
1(5 8 0. secretary's letter shows a leaning on the part of the council 
''■ in lavor of Ehode Island. Connecticut continued to ex- 
23. ert authority over the people of Westerly, summoning 
them to the Stonington town meeting to elect deputies, 
and to perform military duty ; while Rhode Island exer- 
cised her rights in bringing suits for eviction, in cases of 
land title under grants from Connecticut, in that town — 
a proceeding that brought out a strong remonstrance from 
Hartford," closing with a proposal to negotiate. 

Private no less than public concerns, in the colonies, 
were often the subjects of petition to the throne. Thomas 
Savage, one of the eighteen original proprietors of Aqued- 
25. neck, who had returned to Massachusetts, now wrote to 
the Government of Rhode Island, claiming his right in the 
undivided portions of the island to which he was entitled, 
as well as to the eio'ht acre lot that he received at Pocas- 
set, by the original agreement of the purchasers. Copies 
of the necessary papers were given to his son, and also a 
letter to the town of Portsmouth, to the same effect, which 
30 was presented at town meeting, but refused record or 
hearing by the freemen. Major Savage then petitioned 
the King, stating the tacts and asking that a commission 
from the adjacent colonies be ai)pointed to try the case ; 
but no notice appears to have been taken of it.^ The 
claim of one-eighteenth part of the island was a large one, 
and although technically well founded, would have worked 
practical injustice if allowed, since the settlers who re- 

' Br. S. P. 0., New England, vul. iii. p. 81. This account differs some- 
what from tlie received opinion of the settleuieut of Narraganset. See note 
ante ch. vi. p. 1D5. 

- Conn M;;iS., vol. ii. p. 8-10, to which Rhode Island replied, 13th Sept., 
that she was ready to treat, as proposed hj Connecticut, at any time. Do. 
P-11. 

'•* The original petition of Mr. Savage is in Br. S. P. 0., New England, v. 
iii. p. 128. 



THE NARRAGANSET PROPRIETORS PETITION. 463 

mained had given up their equal rights for tlie benefit of chap. 
new comers as fast as such were admitted freemen of the ^^ 
colony. 168 0. 

At the same time the proprietors of Narraganset sent ' ^^ ' 
4, long petition to the King, reciting the history of their 
country, praying to be separated from Rhode Island, and 
annexed to Plymouth or Connecticut, or to be erected into 
a distinct government. The acts of the royal commission- 
ers are particularly dwelt upon, and mucli stress is laid on 
the dissent of Col. Nicholls, and subsequent revocation of 
the order for the Atherton company to (piit the settle- 
ments. They liad sent by William Harris all the papers 
relating to their case, but these were carried to Algiers,' 
and being too poor to send another agent to England, they 
ask that John Lewin and Thomas Dean, to whose care the 
petition is sent, may be received as their attorneys before 
the council, and also that a court of claims, made up from 
the other colonies, may be constituted to examine land 
titles and report to the King.'- The Government of Rhode 
Island sent a remonstrance against this petition, recapitu- 
lating the history of the colony, the agreement of Winthrop 
and Clarke, and the terms of the Connecticut charter, 
which so explicitly assigned Narraganset to Rhode Island. 
The date of every settlement in the colony is given, and 
the assertion of Richard Smith that he was the pioneer in 
Narraganset is directly denied, a Mr. Wilcocks and Roger 
Williams having preceded him by some years, and before 
the purchase of Warwick. The violent conduct of Con- 
necticut is described, and an issue of the differences, by a 
confirmation of the charter of Rhode Island, is earnestly re- 

' While tlie writer was examining tlie nrcliivcs in Loudon, all these docu- 
ments, and many more relating to the capture of Mr. Harris, were found in 
the bundles marked " Algiers," where they had been filed for one hundred 
and seventy years. They are now restored to their proper place among the 
New England papers. 

- Original in Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. iii. p. 81. Received Oct. 
11th, 1680 



464 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND. 

quested. Papers in proof of the averments of the petition 
accompanied it, with a letter ' of the same date from Grov. 
Sandford. John Saffin also wrote to Lord Cnlpeper re- 
hearsing the points of the Narraganset petition, and re- 
questing him to represent their case, and to favor their 
agent, Harris, and the attorneys.'^ 

7. The trial of Clarke took ^ilace at Hartford. He was 

sentenced to pay a fine of ten pounds and costs. The 

■^'- General Assembly assumed the case and granted relief, 
which was the only business of public interest transacted 
at the session. 

A measure was now adopted in England of the most 

vital character in its results upon the colonies. A deter- 

^Q^^ mination to enforce the famous navigation acts ^ and their 

1-- corollary, the acts regulating the plantation trade, was sig- 
nified to all the colonies by royal edict. Upon the recep- 
Murcli ^ioi^ of this decree, the governor and council ordained, in 

-''^- pursuance of its mandates, that a naval ofi&ce, or custom- 

'■ Original letter and petition in New England, vol. iii. pp. 85-87, Br. S. 
P. 0. 

- Br. S. r. 0., New England, v. iii. p. 113. 

•' The author of the first of these acts was George Downing of Salem, a 
nephew of the famous Hugh Peter, the father of New England commerce and 
the fomider of her fisheries. Its ohject was to give to British shipping the 
monopoly of the home trade. Its motive was to weaken the overwhelming 
commercial and naval power of. Holland, then the carrier of the world and 
mistress of the seas. It was introduced into Parliament on the nth August, 
1651, by Whitelock, the republican leader, and passed 9th October. It has 
been well styled the Charta Maritima, and so beneficial was its effect that 
Adam Smith is compelled to pronounce it " the wisest of all the commercial 
regulations of England," although it is diametrically opposed at every point 
to his favorite theory of free trade. Immediately after the restoration it was 
remodelled and passed by the King's Parliament in 16G0, and its author re- 
ceived the honors of kniglithood at the hands of Charles II. The glory of 
England in this as in many other important points, was the result of meas- 
ures initiated by the republican Parliament. "The navigation act, " says 
Upham, "was not only the wisest, it was the boldest, it might almost be 
said, the most high-handed legislative proceeding overpassed." It built up 
the maritime power of England, but it was one of the earliest sources of op- 
pression to her American colonics, in connection with the kindred acts for the 
control of the plantation trade. 



THE CURSE OF CLAWSON. 465 

house, should be established at Newport for the proper en- chap 
try of all vessels arriving in this jurisdiction. The bonds ^^' 
required by the act were to cost six shillings for every ves- 1081. 
sel above forty tons burden, and two and sixpence for those ^ ^^^' 
of less tonnage. The act was pubKshed by beat of drum j 
in the town of Newport. The time was to come when the 
same drum-beat should call the people to resist these acts 
as being among the most oppressive im23ositions of a des- 
potic government ! 

No changes were made in the general officers at the P^ 
next election. Benjamin Hernden, Jr., or Herendeen, of 
Pro\^dence, having without provocation fired upon an In- 
dian, the Assembly passed an act to prevent such outrages 
in future, and caused it to be published, " with all expe- 
dition " at Providence. This man was a desperate char- 
acter, as was his father before him. A romantic legend 
of the latter is preserved, which, as it serves to illustrate 
one phase of border life, when this was a frontier settlement 
of the English, may be here related. In the earliest list 
of " twenty-five acre men" received as inhabitants of 
Providence ' are found the names of John p^ Clawson 
and Benjamin ^ Herendeen. Their families were very 
intimate, and it is probable were connected by marriage. 
Clawson was a hired servant of Roger Williams. One 
ni2;ht - he was attacked from behind a thicket of barberry 
bushes, near the north burial ground, by an Indian named 
Waumaion, whom Clawson supposed to be instigated 
thereto by Herendeen. At the first assault Clawson's 
chin was split open by a blow with a broad axe, from the 
effects of which wound he soon afterwards died, but not 
before he had pronounced the strange curse upon his mur- 
derer, which the legend records as having been so singu- 
larly fulfilled, " that he and his posterity might be marked 
with split chins and haunted with barberry bushes." 
More than a century later, testimony was collected in proof 

' January Ulth, 1G45-G. = 4tli January, lGGO-1. 

VOL. I. — 30 



466 HISTOEY OF THE STATE OF KliODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, of the fulfilment of this dying malediction. By this it 
^^' appears that the descendants of the murderer were remark- 
able for the excavated or furrowed chin, which caused the 
curse of Clawson to be kept in remembrance^ and many a 
quarrel was excited among them at huskings and frolics 
by mention of the word " barberry bushes." ' 
23. At an adjourned session, the towns were empowered to 

choose one or more additional constables at regular town 
meetings, the same as on election day. A slight difficulty 
July, arose between the Mohegan and Narraganset Indians, 
owing to a murder committed by the latter, which led to 
a friendly correspondence between Rhode Island and Con- 
necticut, by which trouble was prevented, the dispute be- 
ing settled by arbitration. This was the only intercourse 
of an official nature that took place between the two col- 
onies for more than a year. 

The Narraganset jjroprietors sent through Lord Cul- 

s H)t P^psi' another statement of their claims, contradicting the 

12. ]30sitions taken by Holden and Greene. This statement 

was received while a commission for settling these disputes 

was being discussed by the council.- 

The next regular session of the Assembly was held at 
Provideuice, being the first Assembly ever held there under 
the new charter, and only the second that had met at any 
other place than Newport. This was perhaps owing to a 
disagreement then existing in the town as to the number 
of which the town council should consist ; one party de- 
siiino- that two or three members should be added to make 
the council ecjual in number to those of the other towns, 

' Tlie curse of Clawson, witU the singular and undoubted evidence of its 
fulfilment, collected from the most respectable sources by the Hon. Theodore . 
Foster, and also the account of the murder and trial, with a copy of a letter 
from Roger Williams to the town of Providence, dated May 11th, IGGl, con- 
cerning the estate of the murdered man, are preserved iu the Foster MS. 
papers. 

- r>r. S. P. 0., New England, vol. iii. p. lOt). Potters Narr. P. I. H. C, 
iii. 226. 1 M. H. C. V. 229. 



Oct 

21). 



A CUSTOM-HOUSE ESTABLISHED. 467 

the other p.arty opposing any alteration. Every town 
council consisted of six persons, including the resident as- 
sistants, who were chosen by all the freemen of the colony. 16 81. 
Three of these being from Providence, left but three mem- 
bers to be elected by the town, the rest being chosen by 
the colony. This Avas a regulation prescribed when the 
charter was adopted, and for which it is difficult to see 
the reason. It certainly worked injustice to the townsmen 
in this case. The Assembly authorized the assistants to 
call a town meeting to elect a council of six persons in ad- 
dition to the assistants. This was to be done annually, 
and was carried into effect at the next town meeting. 1"^- 
Fast riding within the compact parts of Providence was 
also prohibited by the Assembly. 

Attention to the acts of trade and navigation, the ig8 2. 
stumbling-block of New England, began now to be urged 
upon the colonies. The dictatorial bearing of Eandolph, 
the special commissioner appointed from England to en- 
force these acts, as surveyor general of customs, maddened 
the people of Massachusetts almost to open resistance, but 
as yet no trouble from this source was felt in Rhode Island. 
The reciprocal engagement of the colony to the governor 
was amended by adding thereto a pledge to stand by him -^..^y 
in his performance of the said acts as required by the oath 3- 
therein imposed. The ordinance of the governor and coun- 
cil establishing a custom house, upon receipt of the royal 
decree the year before, was confirmed by the Assembly. 
The decree, or " charter concerning trade and navigation," 
as it was termed, was presented to the Assembly by Fran- 
cis Brinlej^, and placed by them in custody of the governor. 
Sandford and Clarke were again chosen to their resijective 
offices. The quarrel between Warwick and Kingstown 
for the possession of Potowomet had proceeded so far that 
the Assembly now interfered, to preserve peace, and for- 
bade any persons whatever from entering thereupon until 
further orders. They also warned certain intruders upon 



468 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, the said lands to depart forthwith, hut permitted the War- 
^J^;^ wick proprietors to mow and improve the meadows there 
16 8 2. as heretofore. The town officers of Kingstown^ distracted 
by the rival claims to the jurisdiction of Narraganset, had 
avoided taking their engagement to this colony. Two 
2s. '' conservators of the peace " ' were therefore elected for 
that town, and the governor was desired to hold a Court 
there and to call a meeting of the town to elect officers ; 
or in case the town should refuse so to do the Court was 
requested to elect all of them, to continue until further 
orders or till new ones be chosen. 
Oct. The autumn session was held at Warwick for the 

"'*■ second time in tw^enty years. The question of the power 
of town councils to reject persons- coming into any town 
was settled upon a2:»plication of the deputies from Provi- 
dence. It was decided that any one might he rejected 
wlio shoukl fail to give bonds satisfactory to a majority of 
the council ; and if any one, being warned by the council 
to leave the town, should fail to do so, a warrant for his 
removal might be issued to the constable, and in case of his 
return to the town he should be subject to fine or whi])- 
])ing.- 

The first company of cavalry in the mainland towns 
was (;hartered at this session, to consist of thirty-six men 
besides officers, with the same privileges given to the in- 
fantry, and the like obligation to exercise six days in the 
year. It was composed of residents of Providence, Wai- 
wick, and adjacent places, upon whose petition it was or- 

' John Cole and Capt. John Foaiies. 

- A curioiis paper is preserved among the Foster MSS., wliicli shows the 
mode of applying for permission to reside in any town. " To y Towne mctt 
this: l.")th of Deeem'J'' 1G80. My reqnest to y towne is ; thu.t they woold 
grant the lihertj^ to reside ui y'' Towne during the Townes Approbation, bc- 
liaving myselfe as a civell man ought to doe, Desireing not to putt y" Tqwne 
to any cbarge by iny rcsideing here ; and for what y Towue shall see cause 
farther to enquire of me, I shall see I hope to give them a true and sober 
Answer thereunto. Y"' friend and servant Tlio. Waters.'' 



HOG ISLAND DISPUTE. 46*9 

ganized. Two majors were hereafter to be cliosen annu- chap. 
ally, one for the island and one for the mainland, at the ^j_ 
spring election. A crew of privateers had recently been 16 82. 
taken and brought into Newport as prisoners, whence they 
were sent to Virginia for trial. A portion of them having 
broken jail, laid a plot to assassinate Governor Sandford, 
which was disclosed by one of their number, who, in fear 
for his life, petitioned that he might not be sent away with 
the rest. The prayer was granted, and the informer sub- 25. 
sequently released. Hog Island, which thirty years before 
liad been a matter of dispute with Plymouth, was again 
claimed by that colony, which led to a correspondence be- 
tween it and Rhode Island, and to a very long letter from 
Governor Hinckley of Plymouth to the secretary of the 
royal council, claiming the island as within their limits. >j(^^. 
Richard Smith, the original purchaser, had recently peti- 18. 
tioned the General Court of Plymouth to protect him from 
some Rhode Island intruders. This caused the appeal to 
the council, which was accompanied by a present of fifty 
guineas to the secretary for past services, and the promise 
of more in case the Hog Island claim should be allowed.' 

A royal commission at length issued to Edward Cran- ^(is;! 
field, governor of New Hampshire, and eight others,- or to -"^pi'il 
any three of them, whereof Cranfield, or Randolph, the de- 
tested agent for the acts of trade in Massachusetts, should 
always be of the c[uorum, to examine and report upon the 
claims to the soil and jurisdiction of Kings Province. 
Two more odious names could not be found in New Eng- 
land than those of the two prominent members of this 

' Gov. Hinckley's MSS. in three folio vols., IiJlO— 1G99 in Muss. Hist. 
See, vol. i. No. 40. 

- EJ. Cnmfield, V/m. Staughton, Jos^'pli Dudley, Ed. Randolph, Samuel 
Shrimpton, John Fitz-Winthrop, Ed. Palmes, Nathaniel Salstonstall and John 
Pynehon, Jr., Esquires. Antiq. of Conn., p. 153. I M. H. C, v. 232. R. 
I. Col. Rec, iii. 174. Printed copies of the commission date it April 17th, 
but the original report in Br. S, P. 0., New England, vol. iii. p. 332, gives 
the date as on the niaroin. 



'JC. 



470 HISTOEY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, commission. Cranfield had succeeded Mason as governor 
^L_> of New Hampsliire ^ with the single purpose of making 
1 G 8 3. money, and ruled that ill-fated province with an arbitrary 
' '• power exerted solely for gain. He had but recently ar- 
rived in the country,^ and had commenced his despotic 
career with an act of tyranny that placed the province 
completely beneath his feet. Such was the character of 
the head of a commission tliat was now to decide upon 
questions vita,l to the interests of Ehode Island.^ 
-. At the general election, the same ofiicers were again 

chosen, but Grovernor Sandford declining to serve, William 
Coddington, son of the late governor of that name, was 
chosen in his place, and besides the usual engagement 
" also took the oath for trade and navigation." The 
power of the Assembly to expel its members was rarely ex- 
luue ercised, but at the adjourned session, a deputy from War- 
wick, against whom complaints were brought and a divorce 
granted on petition of his wife at this session, was deemed 
unfit to hold his seat, and was therefore expelled.-' A 
movement was made for holding the October Courts an- 
nually at Providence and Warwick, which towns wore re- 
quired to furnish a cage and stocks preparatory thereto. 

A complication of afiairs at home and abroad, distinct 
in their characters, yet all of importance to Khode Island, 
ensued at this time. Privateers began to infest the seas, 
and often resorted to the American coast, where the lax- 
ity in regard to the acts of trade favored their unlawful 
operations. This, as we shall hereafter see, in a few 
years degenerated into actual piracy. The first appear- 
ance of these naval freebooters in this vicinity we have al- 

'9tli May, ir,82. 

- Oct. 4th, 1682. 

^ New Hampsliire Avas at tliis period a provincial government, differing 
from the others in New England, which were all charter governments. A 
graphic sketch of the tyranny of Cranficld's administration is found in Bel- 
knap's New Hampshire, chap. viii. 

* See Appendix B., ante chap. viii. 



18. 



SECOND EOYAL COMMISSION. 47l 

ready noticed. The claiai of tlio Hamilton family to the chai'. 
county of New Cambridge, which included all Kings Prov- ^^' 
ince, was again revived. The Duke appointed Edward 168 3. 
Randolph, one of the commissioners, as his attorney to 
prosecute the claim. The arrival of a privateer ship com- ;j(). 
manded by Capt. Thomas Paine, of whom we shall have 
further occasion to speak, caused Thatcher, the deputy 
collector of Boston, to make a journey to Newport to seize Au,;^-. 
the vessel. Governor Coddington refused to lend his aid 
in taking the prize. The ship showed Jamaica papers |o. 
that satisfied the governor, but were pronounced a forgery 
by the officer, who a second time demanded assistance to ^~- 
capture her, and was refused on the ground that her papers 
were regular, and that if the collector did not think so, the 
law courts were open for him to try the n[uestiou, Thatcher 
returned to Boston, and sent to Coddington a pass from 1^. 
the governor of Jamaica to show that Paine's clearance 
was a forged document. The matter rested tlius for 
awhile, but subseq[uently caused much trouble to Rhode 
Island. ^ 

The second royal commission appointed to decide the 
Narraganset dispute, now met upon that business. The 
General Assembly convened at Warwick, and refused to 
publish the summons - issued by Cranfield, alleging as rea- 
sons for their conduct that the summons were not granted 
in his Majesty's name, that the commissioners had not 
shown to the government their authority to act, and that 
the King had not mentioned their appointment in any of 
his letters. The printed briefs that the commissioners 
required to be published were both dateless and placeless. 
Here were serious informalities, it is true, but it might have 
been more politic to have waived these and to liave ac- 

' Tliatclier's account of this aff;iir is in Br. S. P. 0., Now England, iii. 
301. 

= R. I. Col. Rcc, iii. 1.30. Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. iii. p. 225, printed 
sheet. 



20. 



472 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, quiescetl in the desires of the commissioners. The effect 
^^.^J^ of the course adopted was to prejudice the parties who 
It! So. were to decide these vital questions, against the just 
""■ claims of Rhode Ishand, while a more courteous treatment, 
such as had been shown to the previous commissioners, 
would liave compromised no principle, and might have 
21. prevented any adverse bias in the court. A letter was ad- 
dressed to the commissioners, calling upon them to pro- 
duce their authority from the King before proceeding fur- 
ther. They were in session at the house of Richard Smith. 
The Assembly adjourned to meet the next day at the 
house of Capt. John Foanes, also in Narraganset, where 
the messengers made return that, upon delivering the let- 
ter, Governor Cranfield denied any knowledge of a gover- 
nor in Kings Province. No answer was sent to the letter 
nor any commission shown. The Assembly unanimously 
ordered that the governor and council should issue a pro- 
hibition forbidding the commissioners from holding a court, 
and requiring them jjeaceably to depart. This was im- 
mediatelj'' done under the hands and seals of the governor 
and council. The prohibition recited the aforesaid reasons 
and order, and was posted by the general sergeant at 
-,'>. Smitli's house. The next day the commissioners notified 
the Assembly of the object of their meeting, and that they 
had waited two days in vain f )r Rhode Island to comply 
with the King's connuands, and should now adjourn to 
Boston. To this the Assembly replied, defending their 
course, and stating that they had been four days in session 
expecting that the commissioners would show their com- 
mission. A great deal of testimony, some relevant, and 
more not so, was collected by the Court from the various 
claimants to the soil and jurisdiction of Narraganset, which 
was forwarded to England. ^ 

' Some of tills is in the archives of ('ounoetieut, ;ui(l more in Br. S. P. 0. 
New Eii2;land, vol. iii. p. 330, .imoiif;; which is a curious old map of Rhode 
Island, sent over tlie next year, dated 4 July, 1G84. 



24. 



C03IPLA.INTS AGAINST CEANFIELD. 473 

The Assembly tlien elected and engaged conservators chap. 
of the peace and other town officers for Kingstown, and ' ' 
adjourned for two weeks. Committees were then ap- 
pointed to draft letters to the royal coimcil, and Arthur 
Fenner and Ex-Gov. Sandford where chosen by ballot as 
agents to proceed to England. A tax of four hundred 
pounds was voted for this purpose. The letter complain- 
ed of Cranfield and his colleagues for not showing their ^^'■ 
commissions, and explained the conduct of the Assembly 
consequent thereon, contrasting these Avitli the acts of 
the former commissioners and the treatment they had re- 
ceived. It recpiested that notice should be given them in 
case any complaints wxre made by Cranfield on this sub- 
ject, that they might reply thereto. The town of War- 
wick also sent an address ^ to the King, written by Eandal 17. 
Holden and John Greene, rehearsing the foregoing facts 
and referring to the statements they had given when in 
London. This paper substantiated the positions taken in 
the Assembly's letter. Rhode Island had nothing to hope 
from the royal commissioners whose haughty bearing she 
had so indignantly resented. They were the avowed ene- 
mies of all the colonies, as their private letters and of- 
ficial papers ecpially prove. Cranfield's corres23ondence 
is full of the spite of piersonal enmity engendered by 
the treatment that his insolent and unprincipled con- 
duct caused him everywhere to receive. Connecticut ap- 
proached him w^ith that cautious courtesy which his place, 
if not his character, demanded, and for which she received 
in return his approbation of her claims. His letter to the Oct. 

in 

Board of Trade, accompanying the Report, abounds in 
abuse of Rhode Island, in which it is difficult to separate 
the misstatements of fact from the expressions of invective. 
And lest he might seem, in using language which had too 
often before been applied to Rhode Island by her sister 

' The originals of both these letters are ia Br. S. P. 0., New Eug., vol. iii. 
pp. 230, 2?A. R.I. Col Kec, iii. 135, 137. 



474 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, colonies, to be tacitly approving tlieir course, lie cliarged 
^^J^ the same disloyalty upon tliem, and concludes by saying 
1 8 o. that " it never will be otherwise till their charters are 
2o ' broke, ' and the college at Cambridge utterly extiri^ated, 
for from thence those half-witted Philosophers turn either 
Atheists or seditious Preachers." '' On the same day 
Gov. Coddington, by order of the General Assembly, sent 
an address to the King to the same effect as the Septem- 
ber letter, relating to the conduct of Cranfield.^ The 
-^- Eeport of the royal commissioners was a lengthy document 
reciting the parties' claimants, the disrespectful treatment 
of the commissioners by Rhode Island, the points of dis- 
puted jurisdiction, hanging upon the interpretation of tlie 
words " Narraganset riverain the two charters, which 
was declared in favor of Connecticut, and then the claims 
to propriety of tlie soil, which was decided ftilly in favor 
of the Athertou compan}^ The agent of the Duke of 
Hamilton arrived too late to present that claim in season. 
It was therefore referred to the King, and the adverse 
^,^';''- parties were notified thereof.^ Connecticut sent her an- 
swcr to the claim, alleging seven valid reasons against it, 
to which the Duchess of Hamilton afterwards replied, re- 
butting the j)Ositions taken by Connecticut, but in vain, ' 
and tlie Narraganset proprietors also petitioned that the 
decision of the commissioners in their behalf be con- 
firmed.'"' 

Among the important events of this year there was 
one that liad alrcadv occurred, more memorable than anv 



' This was tlie first direct intimiitioii of the calamity that was soon to come 
upon New England. 

- Br. S. r. 0., vol. iii. p. 227. 11. I. Col. Rec, iii. 14G. 

= Br. S. P. 0., vol. iii. p. 232 of New Eng papers. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 147. 

" Br. S. P. 0., New Eng., vol. iii., p. 332-7. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 140-.-). 
R. I. H. C, iii. 229-38. 

^ Both papers are in Br. S. P. 0., New Eng., vol. viii., and the former is 
pi-inted in Antiq. of Conn. p. 159. 

" Br. y. P. O., N. Eng., vol. iii. p. 319. 



DEATH OF ROGER WILLIAMS, 475 

we have recorded — the death of Koger Williams. More chai'. 
than half a century had elapsed since this ardent friend -^^'^ 
of freedom landed on the shores of Massachusetts, and 16 8 3. 
forty-seven }-ears had passed away since, twice exiled for 
opinion's sake, he erected in this wilderness the altar of 
free worship. He had seen the powerful tribes, that first 
welcomed their " wliite brother " to the hospitalities of 
the forest, melt away beneath the advance of a civiliza- 
tion which he had heralded ;' and he had lived to see his 
little band of six associates grown into a prosperous colo- 
ny amid persecution, pestilence, and war. With devout 
thanksgiving he recognized the Supreme Power who had 
preserved his infant colony through so many dangers, to 
perpetuate and disseminate the eternal principles of civil 
and religious freedom which he had sought to establish. 
Of all the pioneers who settled the first four towns he was 
nearly the last survivor ; but two, Randal Holden and 
John Greene, outlived their leader. He died in his 
eighty-fourth year, but how or precisely when is not cer- 
tainly known, ' and " was buried with all the solemnity the 
colony was able to show." ~ 

The remarkable traits of his character may be gather- 
ed from what has heretofore been recorded in these pages. 
His life lias been written by able pens, and well repays 
perusal by those who would learn the trials and appre- 
ciate the triumphs of this Christian statesman.^ He suf- 
fered more than most men from the slanders of those who 
should have been his friends, as well as from the oppres- 
sion of his enemies. The bitterness of theological strife 
spared no weapons which envy or malice could supply. 
Coddington even accused him " as a hireling, who for the 



' He died between January 16th and May 10th, 1683. Kiiowle.=, 354. 

- Callender, R. L H. C, iv. 147, note. 

= By Prof. J. D. Ivnowles, Boston, 1834, 12nio. pp. 437; by Prof. W. Gam- 
mell, in Sparke's Am. Biog. New Serie.s, voL iv. Boston, 1845 ; and by Dr. 
Romeo Elton, Providence, 1853. 16mo. pp. 173. 



476 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

sake of money went to England for the cliartcr ! " Harris^ 
in the long and angry controversy between them, left no 

1 G 8 3. means untried to undermine his influence with those for 
whom he had supplied a home when the gates of Massa- 
chusetts were closed against them. Scot earliest dis- 
played those feelings of envy which successful merit is 
certain to excite in jealous or feeble minds, when the 
whole population turned out to receive Mr. Williams upon 
his return from England with the first charter. " The 
man," he says, " being hemmed in, in the middle of the 
canoes, was so elevated and transported out of himself, 
that I was condemned in myself, that amongst the rest, I 
had been an instrument to set him up in his pride and 
folly." ' But posterity has rendered justice to his memory, 
and the founder of Rhode Island, the great champion of in- 
tellectual liberty, has outlived the efforts of his detractors. 
The leading peculiarities of liis mind may be briefly 

J sketched. A firmness, amounting in some cases perhaps 

to obstinacy, enabled him to suffer hardships, rarely if 
ever surpassed by those of any exile for opinion's sake. 
His generosity amounted to prodigality ; for after having 
purchased of the Indians all the lands around his new 
plantations, with his own money, he divided them equally 
among those who followed him. His charity v/as an ac- 
tive principle, that led him to brave all peril to effect 
good to the natives, or to reconcile feuds among his fellow- 
citizens. Of his forgiving spirit his conduct toward the 
neighboring colonies furnishes ample evidence. He har- 
bored no feelings of revenge for injuries received, but 
pitied the Aveakness, or lamented the delusion whence 
they arose. His consistency and love of truth are alike 
apparent in his controversy with the Quakers at Newport, 
wliich has been so much misrepresented ; yet he would 

^ The Quaker controversy of 1072 was the fruitful occasion of these maui- 
festatious of malevolence, all of which, and maiiy more, may be found in New 
England's Firebrand Quenched, a work before referred to. 



PRIVATEERS. CLAIMS OF PLYMOUTH. 477 

have laid down his life rather than have a hair of their ciiai". 
heads injured on account of their doctrinal views. His in- ^^- . 
dustry was unwearied ; he valued time and he well im- 16 8 3. 
proved it. " One grain of its inestimable sand/' said he, 
" is worth a g-olden mountain."' His faults were those of 
an ardent mind, sometimes hasty, ever slow to yield ; but 
these were few beside his exalted virtues. He was a 
varied scholar, a profound philosopher, a practical Chris- 
tian, a true philanthropist — one whose deep knowledge of 
men, and whose acute perception of principles as displayed 
in the foundation of an American State, entitle him to 
the rank, which posterity has bestowed, among the most 
far-sighted statesmen of his age — one who, were it his 
only praise to have been the first of modern legislators to 
embody the principles of universal toleration in the con- 
stitution of a State, would, by this act alone, secure a 
niche in the temple of fame, and cause his name to be 
handed down through all future time as the great Apostle 
of Keligious Freedom. i0S3-4 

The appearance of privateers ujwn the high seas en- 
gaged the attention of the home government. Jamaica ^^aich 
was at first the head-quarters of these illegal proceedings, 
and orders were sent to that island, and afterward to the 
New England colonies, to pass laws against privateering 
and piracy. The claims of Plymouth to the soil of Rhode 
Island were now extended to an absurd point, including 
the island of Aquedneck, as well as the long disputed 
islet at the mouth of Mt. Hope bay, known as Hog Island. 
A letter from Gov. Hinckley to Secretary Blathwayt sets 
forth this new claim, resting it upon the western boundar}^ 
of Plymouth patent, described as the middle of Narragan- 
set bay, the mouth of which is between Seaconnet and 
Point Judith, and the main channel westward of Aqued- 
neck, and hence including that island.' These two sub- 

' Hinckley MSS. vol. i. No. 03. Ma.ss. Hist. Soc. 



10. 



10. 



478 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, jects presented the chief topics of legislation at the Gen- 

~J^,i^ cral Assembly. 

1(3 8 4. The same executive oflScers were again chosen, and 

^7 for the first time, tAvo majors, John Coggeshall for the 
island and John Greene for the main, were also elected by 
the peojile. The governor being ill, the Assembly met at 
his house, where the oath according to the act of Trade 
^- and Navigation was administered with the regular en- 
gagement. A difference between the towns of Portsmouth 
and Newport, which had existed ever since their separa- 
tion, was now settled by the Assembly, the line between 
them was established, and the tenure of lands upon the 
J ^^ ^ island definitely fixed. The proclamation concerning 
24. privateers and pirates was received at an adjourned session, 
and published in Newport by beat of drum. The act re- 
qidred thereby was at once passed, making it felony to 
serve under any foreign Prince against any power at peace 
with England, without special license, and mating all 
persons liable as accessories who should give aid or coun- 
tenance in any way to those wlio might be adjudged as 
privateers or pirates. Time was allowed for those already 
employed under foreign flags to return and give security 
to the governor for their future behavior. The act was 
transmitted to England with letters from the colony. 
Similar acts were passed by the other colonies. The in- 
trusions of Plymouth, based upon her recent extravagant 
claims, were discussed, and a letter was sent to Gov. Hinck- 
ley, remonstrating in friendly terms against two acts of 
violence committed at Hog Island by N. Byfield of Bris- 
tol, and others, but making no allusion to any farther claim 
of that colony.' 

The Jews, who afterwards contributed so much to the 
commercial prosperity of Newport, appeared for the first 
time, by petition, at this Assembly, and received the as- 
surance that they might expect as good protection here 

' Hiuckley MSS. vol. No. (ji. Mass. Hist. Soc. 



CHAELES II. AND JAMES II. 479 

iis any otlier resident foreigners, being obedient to the chap. 

laws.' The antiimn sessions of the Assembly were ap- .^^^^ 

pointed to be held hereafter alternately at Warwick and 16 84. 
Providence, and accordingly met this year at Warwick, 29 
and assessed a tax of one hundred and sixty pounds, no- 
tice of which had been given at the spring session. 

The death of Charles II. and the proclamation of his ^^t'^^- 

F eo. 
brother James II., occurred soon after in England. What- o. 

ever may be said of the public and private character of 
the deceased monarch, Rhode .Island is bound to speak 
well of his civil administration so far as it concerned her- 
self, for to him she owed the confirmation of her glorious 
privileges in the second charter, and was uniformly pro- 
tected by him against the assumptions of her arrogant 
neighbors. The broad principles of universal toleration, 
which a distracted nation hailed in the famous Declara- 
tion of Breda, and which Clarke incorporated in its very 
terms in his draft of the charter of Ehode Island, Avere 
secured to her, although they were denied to his other 
subjects. The new king was soon to inaugurate a new^ 
policy subversive of all liberty, and to prostrate New 
England beneath his feet by means of a royal governor. 

While this storm was gathering, other claimants pre- 
sented themselves for the contested soil of Narraganset. 
One sixteenth of all the lands held by the Atherton com- 
pany had been bestowed upon Lord Culpeper, governor 
of Virginia, who now petitioned the crown, in behalf of oi. 
his associates, to confirm their possession, ofi'ering to pay 
an annual quit-rent of two and sixpence for every hundred ^ *'^ ■'^• 

acres. The Earl of Arran, son of the Duke of Hamilton, , ., 

. . April 

again urged the old claim of his grandfather the Marquis. 3. 

These petitions took the usual course of reference to the 

^ This is worthy of uote as e\-idence that the famous phrases, " professing 
Christianity," &c., were not embodied in the law of 1663, as the enemies of 
Rhode Island have charged, but were interpolated at a later date, and, as would 
appear by tliis act, subsequent certainly to 1684. 



480 HISTOEY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

("HAP. Booard of Trade, where they shimhered for some years he- 
_J_. fore any Keport was made upon them.' The rival cLaims 
] 8 5. among the actual settlers in Narraganset was giving rise 
^ ^ ' to disturbance, threatening serious results. To prevent 
].s this the governor and council of Ehode Island issued an 
order requiring that no man should molest any one in 
the quiet possession of his lands, until the King's pleasure 
could be known. 
M.iy The first direct step was now taken in England by 

'^' Edward Randolph against the libert}^ of the colonies. He 
complained to the Board of Trade of irregula,rities in Con- 
necticut and Ehode Island, and urged that writs of quo 
ivarranto should be granted against them, for the purpose 
of revoking their charters. An order was at once issued 
for him to prepare articles of misdemeanor against these 
colonies, that might serve as a basis for the writs.'- That 
some intimation of impending peril had reached PJiode 
Island, we infer from the proceedings at the general elec- 
tion. Gov. Coddington was absent when the Assemblv 
met. Ho was re-elected, and an earnest letter informing 
him of the fact, and requesting his presence, Avas carried 
G. to him by a committee of the members. He appeared, 
but declined to serve. Henry Bull, a man who afterwards 
proved himself to be as fearless as he was honest, was 
then chosen governor ; and the deputy governor, Walter 
Clarke, was re-elected. The attorney general and several 
of the Assembly also refused to take their engagements, 
and others were chosen in their places. An address, in 
the usual style, was prepared, congratulating King James 
upon his accession, and asking a continuance of tlie favors 
bestowed by his predecessor. The proprietors of Narra- 
ganset sent a similar address.^ 

' Br. S. P. 0., New Eng., vol. iii. pp. 322-;'!, 32G-7. 

- See original letter prefacing the articles. Br. S. P. 0., New England, 
vol. iv. p. 245. R. I. Col. Pec, iii. 17.".. 

= Originals of both in Br. S. P. 0-, New England, vol. iii. pp. 29i, 348. 



WEITS OF QUO WAREANTO. 481 

A royal letter announcing an impost upon sugar and chap. 
tobacco, to be paid by the retailers and consumers, and ■^^• 
mentioning also the defeat of Argyle and Monmouth in 168 5. 
Scotland, was sent as the first greeting from the new King "^^^ 
after his accession.' The General Assembly at an ad- 
journed session filled the vacancies in the list of Assist- 30. 
ants, two from Warwick having declined to serve. 

As soon as Randolph had prepared the articles of mis- July 

demeanor, according to the order of council, they were ■^^• 

presented with the request that writs of quo warranto be 

forthwith issued. The articles were referred to the Attor- i- 

1 ( . 

ney General, with an order to issue the writs against 
Rhode Island and Connecticut, and advising the same 
process upon the proprietors of East and West Jersey 
and Delaware.- The articles, as may be sujDposed, were 
malicious in spirit and false in fact ; but they accomplish- 
ed the purpose of their artful designer, who followed uj) 
his scheme with untiring zeal. The Attorney General 
placed the whole five writs in the hands of Randolph, who 
urged the Board of Trade to send them to America by a o'"' 
vessel about to sail. His anxiety was the greater on ac- 
count of the failure of a similar writ issued nine months 
before, against Massachusetts, which had lapsed owing 
to the length of the voyage, the term at which it was 
made returnable having passed. He therefore proposed 13, 
to the Board to take them himself to America, and asked 
also for power to erect a temporary government in 
Massachusetts until a royal governor could be sent out 
for all New England.^ This request was in the main oct. 
granted, and copies of the quo warranto were sent out '^•• 
soon after from the sheriff's office, with letters explaining 

' Antiq. of Conn. 167. 

- Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. iv. p. 217. Now York Docs. vol. iii. p. 
362. R. I. Col. Rec. iii. 175-7. 

= Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. iii. pp. 319-360. R. I. Col. Rec. in. 
177-8. 

VOL. I 31 



2S. 



482 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, ilie contents.^ Two days" later a President aud Council 

■^^" were appointed to govern Massachusetts, New Hampshire, 

16 8 5. Maine and Kings Province. This commission consisted 

g ■ of seventeen persons, residents of New England, and 

many of them ^proprietors in Narraganset. Joseph Dud- 

^^- ley was named as President, and Edward Pvandolph was 

made Secretary.- Judgment against Massachusetts was 

entered up a few days after. 

The General Assembly met at Providence. A peti- 
tion from certain inhabitants of Rhode Island was pre- 
sented, asking for a grant of vacant lands in Kings Prov- 
ince, sufficient to support a hundred and fifty famihes, 
that they might commence a new" planjLation. The As- 
sembly authorized the governor and council of Rhode 
Island to locate this new settlement in the Narraganset 
and Niantic countries, and to divide Kingstown into more 
than one town, or adopt any other course in regard to the 
difficulties there that they might deem best. A cojiy of 

' The quo warranto caunot be found, but the original letter in -whicli it was 
enclosed is presei-ved among the Foster MSS. vol. iv. in R. I. Hist. Soc., and 
is as follows : " London, October G, 1(585. Gentlemen. This day was delivered 
to my hand (as I am secondary to the sheriff of London), a writt of Cowarranto 
ishewing out of the Crowne ofice of the Court of King's beuch. at Westminster, 
ao-ainst you the Gov"'' and Company of the English colony of the Rhoade Island 
aud the providence plantations in New Ingland in America, Requiring your 
appearance before his Magesty wheresoever he shall then be in Ingland, from 
the daye of Easter in fifteen days to answer imto our Lord the King by what 
warrant you claim to have and youse divers libertyes and franchieses w"'in the 
si Colony — vizt., in the parish of Saint Michaill Bassieshaw, London, of which 
you are impeached, and that you may not he Ignorant of any part of the con- 
tents of the s' wi'itt, I have in Closed unto you a true Coppia of the si writt 
(in his Magesty's name requiring your appearance to it), and aquainting you 
that in defalte thereof you wiU be jiroseeded against to the outlawry, whereby 
the libertys and franchises you claime and now Injoye will be forfited to the 
Kjjq"", and your Charter annulled. Of this Gents plese to take notiss, from 
your humble servant (unknown) Pa. Nokmanskll." A similar letter to (.^in- 
necticut, dated a year later, in the print, and varying somewhat in terms, is 
found in Antiq. of Conn. p. 171. 

■•' 1 M. H. C, vol. V. 244. R. I. Col. Rec. iii. 197, 200. Randolph's com- 
mission as secretary of the council is dated 21 Sept. 1G85- 



Marcli 

99 



RANDOLPH ARRIVES AT BOSTON. 483 

tins act, and also of the petition, was sent to England.' chap. 
A divorce law, making five years' neglect or absence of ^^' 
either party a ground of separation, was passed at this time. 1685-g. 
The Narraganset proprietors published a protest against 
this settlement act of the Khode Island Assembly, signed 
by the three agents of the company, the authors of the fa- 
mous handbill, of eight years before, prohibiting any persons 
from entering upon the land without their consent, or that 
of Richard Smith and Francis Brinley, who resided on 16 8 G, 
the spot.- A revival of the prosecutions upon the seve- ^T 
ral writs of quo ivarranto was moved in the royal council. 

At the general election the late deputy governor, ^[=^y 
Walter Clarke, was chosen governor, and Major John 
Coggeshall, deputy governor. The laws relating to excise 
on liq^uors, keeping taverns, and selling arms to the In- 
dians, were repealed, and a committee was appointed to co- 
dify the laws, the former committee for that purpose never 
having reported. The speedy suspension of the charter 
rendered this committee equally inefficient. As soon as 13. 
news of the arrival of Randolph, at Boston, reached Rhode 
Island, Grov. Clarke Avrote him a friendly letter, offering 15. 
his services in behalf of the King. Dudley, the new gov- 
ernor, or President of the Council, showed a copy of the 17. 
royal commission to the General Court of Massachusetts, 
who took exception to its contents, and unanimously 
adopted a letter to him, stating their objections, which 
were as valid as they were impolitic. The Court also re- 20. 
moved all papers, relating to their charter, from the cus- 
tody of their secretary, and deposited them with a special 
committee for safe keeping.' The first proclamation of 
the new government confirmed all the existing officers of 
justice in the several provinces. A second proclamation 



' Br. S. P. 0., Now England, vol. iii. pp. 355 and 371). R. I. Col. Rec, 
iii. 183. 

•^ A broadside in Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. iii. p. 381. 

^ M. C. R., vol. V. p. 51G. 2 M. II. C, viii. 170. R. I. C. R., iii. 203. 



28 



17. 



484 HISTOEY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, followed, establisliing the royal government in Narragan- 
.^.^J^ set, erecting a Court of Kecord tliere, appointing civil 
16 86. and military officers for the time being, and prohibiting 
Connecticut or Rhode Island from farther exercise of 
jurisdiction in that country.' But this government was 
simply provisional, to continue only till the plan of con- 
solidating all New England under one royal governor 
3. could be perfected. This was done by the appointment 
of Sir Edmund Andros, formerly governor of New York, 
to the supreme authority, by royal commission,^ Until 
his arrival Dudley and his council had full sway within 
the limits of their government. They examined the pro- 
ceedings of the Cranfield commission in regard to Narra- 
ganset, confirmed the records, and adopted the same book 
for all subsequent entries of the acts of the proprietors. 
They also rebuked, the other authorities for the injustice 
tliat had so long been practised against all dissenters from 
the Puritan Church. The best act of the Dudley ad- 
ministration, and the only one for which the secretary, 
Randolph, deserves commendation from Rhode Island, 
was a letter that he wrote to Gov. Hinckley on account 
of a tax laid at Scituate, upon a Quaker, for the support 
of the ministry. Randolph arrived in Rhode Island, with 
the fatal order of council upon the quo ivarranto, and 
there heard the complaint of this act of injustice com- 
mitted about three weeks before in Plymouth. The 
liberality of the Pilgrim colony had long since yielded to 
the overwhelming influence of Massachusetts, and there 
was now but little difference between them, either on points 
of doctrine or of ecclesiastical polity. Although Plymouth 
was not included in Dudley's government, the secretary 

' R. I. C. R., iii. 197. Richard Smith, James Pendletou, and John Foanes, 
were named as Justices, Richai'd Smith as Sergeant Major of militia, and four 
constables were also designated. Both proclamations are on printed broad- 
sides in Br. S. P. O., New England, vol. iii. pp. 375, 377. 

^ His commission is printed in full in R. I. i\ R., iii. 212-18. 



NAMES OF TOWNS CHANGED. 485 

at once wrote to the governor, expressing regret that, while chap. 
liberty of conscience had been granted in the royal com- ^^• 
mission to the colonics therein included, it should be re- 10 8 0. 
strained in that colony without special license from the 22" 
King. The letter further stated that it would be as 
reasonable to levy a tax on Plymouth for the support of 
the Church of England minister, now preaching at Bos- 
ton, as to make the Quakers pay to maintain the Puritan 
clergy. This was a home thrust that admitted of no parry 
except by adopting the principles of Khode Island ; and 
not a little of the impotent rage displayed against Dud- 
ley and his successor, may be fairly ascribed to the sj^irit 
of religious intolerance. 

Randolph having delivered the order of council upon 
the writ, and at the same time soothed, in a measure, 
the irritated feelings of the people by his unexpected de- 
fence of their favorite principle, the next day passed over 
to Narraganset, where Dudley and his council held a 23, 
court. The commission was read, the oaths of office and 
of allegiance therein prescribed were administered to the 
justices and people, and John Foanes was made perma- 
nent clerk of the Court of Records. The militia were 
duly commissioned, and the names of the three towns in 
the Province were changed. Kingston, the chief town, 
was called Rochester, Westerly, the second in size, was 
named Haversham, and Grreenwich, the smallest, Dedford. 
Their boundaries were established, the western limits of 
Haversham to be the Pawcatuck river, and the northern 
bound of Dedford to be the town of Warwick, and to in- 
clude within it the disputed neck of Potowomet, long 
claimed by the latter.' Preemption rights were allowed 

' This gave rise to a dispute. In oi'der to an amicable settlement, the town 
of Warwick on 9 July, 1686, appointed three men to meet a deputation, pro- 
bably the three agents of the Atherton company, at a place half way between 
Warwick and Boston, to discuss the matter, but instructed them to yield noth- 
ing over which they had a just claim by purchase from the Indians. The re- 



486 HISTOKT OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, to those who, without leave of the proprietors, had settled 
^^1^__^ upon the old " mortgaged lands," and time was given for 
1*>SG. them to arrange with the owners, by rent or purchase, 
with right of appeal to the government at Boston in the 
case of dissatisfaction. Two annual courts of Pleas were 
estahlished, to be held at Rochester in May and October. 
Thirty wild, or unmarked horses were ordered to be caught 
24. and sold, the proceeds to be employed in building a 
prison and erecting stocks, and Daniel Vernon was ap- 
pointed marshal of the Province and keeper of the prison.' 
The government of Kings Province was thus organized on 
what was believed to l)e a permanent basis. The western 
boundary was established in accordance with the early claim 
of Rhode Island, with wliicli the Province was soon again 
to be incorporated never more to be divided. 

The usual June adjournment of the May session hap- 
pened to fall at the precise time when the summons of 
Randolph to assemble the freemen would have required it 
20. to meet. It was the last General Assembly that for 
nearly four years was to convene upon the free soil of Rhode 
Island. Notice had been given by Gov. Clarke for the 
freemen generally to attend and give their opinion upon 
the course to be pursued. A large number were present, 
and, after consultation, left the matter to the judgment 
of the Assembly, who wisely determined not to stand suit 
with the King, but to proceed by humble address to his 
Majesty, asking a continuance of their charter privileges. 
A committee was appointed for this j)urpose, and to pro- 
cure a messenger to go to England. 

But, although the freemen in General Assembly thus 
quietly and prudently surrendered their common charter 
at the dictation of a despot Avhose will was law, they had 
no idea of j^arting with their ancient liberties beyond a 

suit of this conference, winch was to be held on the 13th July, cauuot be as- 
certained. The Warwick records of this period are lost. 

'■ Potter's Narraffanset. R. I. H. C, iii. 239. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 200-3. 



SUSPENSION OF THE CHARTER. 487 

certain and inevicaLle point. Their distinct existence as a chap. 
colony was soon to be merged in a great central government. ^^^^ 
The purpose for which they had first sought a patent, to l '> 8 (>. 
consolidate the towns so as to compel the neighboring colo- 29^ 
nies to respect their rights, was no longer essential under 
an administration that was to reduce the whole of New 
England to the same level in point of power. The new 
government would not tolerate such acts on the part of 
her neighbors as had led the four original towns of Rhode 
Island to combine under the first charter. Before that 
period each town was in itself sovereign, and enjoyed a 
full measure of civil and religious freedom. They had 
now only to fall back upon their primitive system of 
town governments to be as free under the new regime as 
they had been prior to the union of 1647 ; while a royal 
government would secure to them the same protection 
from their neighbors that the charters had done. For 
these reasons the policy of James II. was less disastrous 
to Rhode Island than to any other of its victims. It 
caused her to fall back upon a system in which she had 
already had experience, and which had proved chiifly de- 
fective in the single point that the new policy would ob- 
viate. The American system of town governments, 
which necessity had compelled Rhode Island to initiate, 
fifty years before, now became the means of preserving 
the liberty of the individual citizen when that of the 
State, or colony, was crushed. To provide for this was 
the last act of the expiring legislature. For this purpose 
it was declared " lawful, for the freemen of each town in 
this colony to meet together and appoint five, or more or 
fewer, days in the year for their assembling together, as 
the freemen of each town shall conclude to be convenient, 
for the managing the affairs of their respective towns ; " 
and that yearly, upon one of those days, town officers should 
be chosen as heretofore, taxes levied, and other business 
transacted at such meetings, as the majority should de- 



488 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, termine ; and that to prevent question of the legality of 
j^i. .j-j-^g meetings the townsmen should order their clerk, or 
1 1> 8 6. other officer, to warn the freemen to attend at a certain 
' og ^ day and hour. The Assembly then dissolved. The clos- 
ing scene in the first period of Rhode Island history, under 
the Royal charter, was at hand. Although the arrival of 
Andros did not occur for some months, his commission had 
already issued, and as there was no change in his policy, 
so far as regards Rhode Island and Kings Province, from 
that which was adopted by Dudley in respect to Narra- 
ganset, his administration virtually commenced in Rhode 
Island with the suspension of the charter. 



APPENDIX F. 

ANSWER OF KHODE ISLAND TO THE INQUIRIES OF THE BOARD 
OF TRADE. 

FROM THE ORIGINAL IN THE BRITISH STATE PAPER OFFICE, NEW ENGL^U^D 
PAPERS. B. T. VOL. III. P. 121. 

Whereas •wee the Governor and Councill of his Majesties Colloney 
of Rhoade Island and Providence Plantations receaved from your 
Lordships the Right Honorable, the Lords of his Majesties most Hon- 
orable Privy Councill, appointed a committee for Trade and Forreign 
Plantations certain heads of inquicry, subscribed by the honorable 
secretary William Blathwayt, in obedience to your Lordships com- 
mands requiring an answer thereunto ; wee the Governor and Councill 
aforesaid accordinge to the best of our understandinge make answer as 
followeth, viz*. 

To the first wee humbly answer that the Councelis and Assemblies 
are stated accordinge to his Majesties appointment in his gratious let- 
ters Pattents, and our Courts of judicature are two in the yeare certain 
appointed accordinge to Charter, and are carried on by Judges and 
Jurors, accoWinge to Law and Charter. 

To the second, concei'ninge the court of Admiralty wee answer that 
wee have made provision to act accordinge to the Lawes of England 



ANSWEES TO THE BOARD OF TRADE. 489 

as neare as the constitution of our place will bearc havinge but little ^jj ad 
occasion thereofe. XI. 

To the third wee answer that accordinge to our Charter the Legis- "Tpp^ 
lative power is seated in our Generall Assemblies, and the executive p. 
power of the government is in our Courts of Trialls settled accordinge 
to Charter. 

To the fourth wee answer that our Lawes are made accordinge to 
the Charter not repugnant but agreable to the Lawes of England. 

To the fifth we answer, that as for Horse wee have but few, but the 
chief of our Militia consists of ten company s of foote, being Trayned 
Bands under one Generall Commander, and their arms are firelockes. 

To the sixth, wee answer that in the late Indian warres wee forti- 
fied oui'selves against the Indians as necessity required, but as for 
fortification against a Forreign enemie, as yet wee have had no occasion 
but have made as good provision as at present wee are capacitated to 
doe. 

To the seventh wee answer, that our coast is little frequented and 
not at all at this time with privateers or pirates. 

To the eighth wee answer, as with respect to other Nations, that 
the French being seated at Canada and up the Bay of Funde are a 
very considerable number, as wee judge about two thousand, but as 
for the Indians, they are generally cut off by the late warr, that were 
inhabitinge our CoUoney. 

To the 9th wee answer, that as for Forreighners and Indians, we 
have no commerce with, but as for our neighbouringe English, wee 
have and shall endeavour to keepe a good correspondency with them. 

To the 10th wee answer as to the Boundaryes of our Land within 
our Patent that our Charter doth declare the same viz — (extracts the 
bounds from the charter, and adds, "the greatest part of it unculti- 
vated, and is about a degree as we conceave.") 

To the 11th wee answer that the principal town for trade in our 
Colloney is the Towne of Newport, that the generality of our buildinge 
is of timber and generally small. 

To the 12th, That wee have nine towns or divisions within our 
Colloney. 

To the 13th, That wee have several good Harbors in the Colloney 
of very good depth and soundinge, navigable for any shippinge. 

To the l4th, That the principall matters that are exported amongst 
us, is Horses and provisions, and the goods chiefly imported is a small 
quantity of Barbadoes goods for supply of our familyes. 

To the 15th, That as for Salt Peter we know of none in this Col- 
loney. 

To the 16th, Wee answer that wee have severall men that deale in 
buyinge and scllingc although they cannot properly be called Merchants, 



490 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND. 

CH\P ^"*^ ^'-'^' P^^J^ters wee conceave there are about five hundred and about 

XI. five hundred men bcside.«. 
"TjTJT^ I'o the 17th, that we have had few or none either of English, Scots, 
F. Irish or Forreighners, onely a few blakcs imported. 

To the 18th, That there may be of Whites and Blakes about two 
hundred borne in a yeare. 

To the lUtli, That for marriages we have about fifty in a yeare. 

To the 20th, That for burrials this seaven yeares last past accord- 
inge to coniitutation amounts to foure hundred fifty and five. 

To the 21st, That as for JMerchants wee have none, but the most of 
our Colloney live comfortably by improviuge the wildernesse. 

To the 22d, That wee have no shippinge belonginge to our Colloney 
but only a few sloopes. 

To the 23d, that the great obstruction coucerningo trade is the 
want of Merchants and Men of considerable Estates amongst us. 

To the 24th, wee answer that a fishingc trade might prove very 
beneficiall provided accord inge to the former artickle there were men 
of considerable Estates amongst us and willing to propagate it. 

To the 2oth, That as for goodes exported and imported, which is 
very little, there is no Ciistorae imposed. 

To the 26th. wee answer that those people that goe under the de- 
nomination of Baptists and Quakers are the most that publiquely con- 
gregate together, but there arc others of divers persuasions and prin- 
ciples all which together with them injoy their liberties accordinge to 
his Majesties gratious Charter to them granted, wherein all people in 
our Colloney are to enjoy their libert}'' of conscience provided their 
liberty extend not to licentiousnesse, but as for Papists, wee know of 
none amongst us. 

To tlie 27th, That we leave every ^lan to walke as God shall per- 
suade their hartes, and doe actively and passively yield obedience to 
the Civill Magistrate and doe not actively disturb the Civill peace and 
live peaceably in the Corporation as our Charter requires, and have 
liberty to frequent auy meetings of worship for their better Instruc- 
tion and information, but as for beggars and vagabonds wee have none 
amongst us ; and as for lame and impotent persons there is a due 
course taken. This may fiu-ther humbly informe 3'our Lordships that 
our predecessors about forty years since left their native countrey and 
comfortable settlements there because they could not in their private 
opinions conform to the Lithurge, foi'mes and ceremonies of the Church 
of England, and transported themselves and familyes over the Ocean 
seas to dwell in this remote wildernesse, that they might injoy their 
liberty in their opinions, which upon application to his gratious JMajesty 
after his happy restouration did of his bountifull goodncsse graunt us a 
Charter full of liberty of conscience, provided that the pretence of 



ANSWEES TO THE BOARD OF TRADE. 491 

liberty extend not to licentiousnessc, in which said Charter there is ^y^^p 

liberty for any persons that will at their charges bnild Churches and XI. 

maintaine such as are called IMinistcrs without the least molestation ^'^^f^ 

as well as others. F. 
In the behalf and with the consent of the Councill, signed 

Peleg Sandford, Governor. 

Dated Newport on Road Island 
the eighth of May 1G80. 



492 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 



CHAPTEE XII. 

1686— lYOO. 

FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE ANDROS GOVERNMENT TO 
THE CLOSE OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 

wiAP. The address of Eliode Island to tlie King acknowledg- 
^^-r-w cd tlie receipt of the quo luarrantos at the hand of Ean- 
i^\^' dolph, and declared that although the period had already 
3. passed at wliich the writ was returnable, they would not 
stand suit with his Majesty. The pohcy of this course 
was obvious. Resistance could only have incensed the 
monarch, and prove futile in the end. Tlie Bermudas 
Islands and the city of London had both stood a trial and 
lost their charters. A large number of corporations in 
England had shared the same fate. The infamous Jef- 
feries was then Lord Chancellor, to whom the will of the 
King was the only law. New England was doomed, and 
every consideration of principle or of policy that could ac- 
tuate Rhode Island moved her to this course ; the more 
so as James II. had proclaimed her favorite idea of free- 
dom of conscience. The address asked for a continuance 
of her privileges in this respect, and that no persons 
should be placed over her " that suit not the nature and 
constitution of your Majesty's subjects here," and further. 



28. 



PKOCEEDINGS OF RANDOLPH. 493 

that Newport miglit be made a free port.' Another ad- chap. 

VTT 

dress from certain freemen of Ehode Island was sent, to the .^_,__ 
same eifect, but injudiciously taking exception to the act of 1 ^ ^ ^■ 
the Assembly, and praying that they, the signers, may be iq" 
exempt from the tax for an agent to be sent to England. 
This attempt at action independent from that of the As- 
sembly in the premises, was, to say the least, in bad taste, 
and its motive is sufficiently apparent at the close. It 
indicates the preversity of party spirit at a time when all 
parties should have united in view of a common danger. 
It in signed by fourteen persons, representing various in- 
terests, several of whom were among the Atherton pur- 
chasers.'^ The two writs against Connecticut were not 
served by Eandolph till a month later than those against 
Rhode Island. A special Assembly was thereupon con- ^^■ 
vened at Hartford, who appointed an agent to carry 
a petition to the King. A third writ w^as afterward 
brought against them, and it was not till Sir Edmund 
Andros had arrived and personally appeared with an 
armed force before the Connecticut assembly, that the 
colony iinaUy submitted ; but they concealed their char- 
ter in a hollow of the famous tree since known as the 
" Charter Oak." ^ 

Randolph sent an account to the Board of Trade of 
his proceedings, and of the state of government in the 
colonies, urging that a general governor should be sent 
without delay,^ Major John Grreene of Warwick was Aus 
commissioned by the governor to carry the letters and ad- 
dress to England and to act as agent for the Colony.^ 
His former colleague in the agency, Randal Holden, also 
sent an address concerning Kings Province, rehearsing its 21 

' Br. S. P. 0., New Eng., v. 3. p. 396. It. I. Col. Rec, iii. 193. 
- Br. S. P. 0., New Eng., vol. iv. p. 412. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 194. 
' Oct. 31, 1G87. Trumbull B. 1. ch. xv. p. 368-72, edit. 1818. 
' Br. S. P. 0., New Eng., vol. iv. p. 315. R. I. Co). Rec, iii. 203. 
5 Br. S. P. 0., New Eng., vol. iv. p. 435. 



494 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND, 

CHAP, liistory since the submission of the Sachems, down to the 
^^ government of Dudley, and advising that persons not in- 
16 8 6. terested in the lands should have the disposal of them, as 
2L ^^^ Majesty's interests were disregarded by the present 
rulers.^ The justices of Narraganset, who were among 
its proprietors, sent an address assailing the character of 
Greene, the Ehode Island agent, as the author of their 
troubles, in order to counteract his influence at the 
Court,- and asking that their affairs might be referred 
to Dudley and his council. A similar petition against 
Greene was sent by the Pawtuxet proprietors, asking for 
a like reference of their dispute with Warwick on the fa- 
mous second verdict, obtained by Harris in their behalf 
nine years before.^ In a long communication from Presi- 
dent Dudley, sent at this time to the Board of Trade, he 
dwells upon the violations of the acts of trade all along 
the coast from Nova Scotia to New York, and mentions 
the aggressions of the French upon the fishing vessels 
of New England. He states that, to prevent illegal 
commerce, the number of free ports had been much re- 
duced, and gives also a full account of the proceedings of 
the council in organizing Kings Province.^ The secretary, 
Piandolph, in a letter denouncing the conduct of Massa- 
chusetts for resisting an impost of duties, which he es- 
timates would yield a revenue of four thousand pounds 
sterling a year, when Connecticut and Rhode Island were 
added to the New England government, also mentions 
the appearance of piratical vessels upon the coast, to the 
great hinderance of trade.^ In a private letter of the 
same date to the Lord Treasurer, Eandolpli complains 
bitterly of his colleagues in the government, especially of 
President Dudley, who he says refuses to aid him in the 

' Br. S. P. 0., New Eng., vol. iv. p. 440. 

^ Br. S. P. 0., New Eng., vol. iv. p. 411. 11. I. Col. Rec., iii. 208. 

' Br. S. P. O., New Eng., vol. iv. p. 407. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 209. 

' Br. S. P. 0., New Eng., vol. iv. p. 311. 

' Br. S. P. 0., New Eng., vol. iv. p. 195. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 205. 



SEAL AND FLAG OF NEW ENGLAND. 495 

schemes of enthralment whicli he proposes for New Eng- chap. 
land, and he urges again the sending of a general gov- \^^ 
ernor. This letter j)resents a curious picture of the di- 16 86. 
vided councils that prevailed in the colonies, even among ^' 
the despotic ministers of King James.' The Quakers 25. 
also prepared an address to send by Eobert Hodgson, one 
of their members, in which they ask that their religious 
privileges may be preserved to them, and their peculiar 
views in regard to oaths and military service may be 
respected.- 

Upon receipt of the address of the General Assembly, Sept. 
additional instructions were given to Sir Edmund Andros 
to demand the surrender of the charter, upon his arrival, 
and to take Ehode Island under his government, assuring 
the colony of the royal protection, and to do the same 
with Connecticut in case her people should likewise de- 
cide to surrender their charter.^ A few days later the 
last acts necessary to the departure of Andros to enter upon ^ 
the government of New England, were concluded by giv- 
ing him the seal and flag prej)ared for the consolidated 
provinces. The seal employed by the president and 
council represented an Indian with a bow in his left hand 
and an arrow in his right, and the inscription, " sigilum 

PRJ2SID. CONCIL. DOM, REG. IN NOV. ANGLIA," withiu the 

border.* The new seal was more elaborate, and is thus 
described in the receipt given for it by Andros — "en- 
graven on the one side with his Majesty's effigies standing 
under a canopy, robed in his royal vestments and crown- 

1 3. M. H. C, vii. 154. E. I. Col. Rec , iii. 206. 

- Br. S. P. 0., New Eng., vol. iv. p. 419. 

^ 3. M. n. C , vii. 1G2. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 218. 

* The Seal of the Presiding Codncil of our Lord the King ix New 
England. Copies of tliis are attached to tLe proclamations of Dudley before 
mentioned, in the British State Paper Oifice, London. No copies of the An- 
dros seal appear in the British archives. The proceedings of his council were 
transmitted to England but have not been found among the government rec- 
ords. It is to be hoped that they may some day be discovered. 



496 HISTOKY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, ed, with a sceptre in the left hand, the right hand being 
vJ-^-J extended towards an Englishman and an Indian, both 
HiSC. kneehug ; the one jn-esenting the fruits of the country, 
and the other a scroll, and over their heads a Cherubin 
holding another scroll with this motto : Nunquam libertas 
gratior extat, with his Majesty's titles around the circum- 
ference ; there being on the other side the King's arms, 
with the garter, crown, supporters and motto, and this in- 
scription round the circumference : Sigillum Nova3 Anglia3 
in America." ' A plate representing the New England 
colors, under the administration of Sir Edmund Andros, 
from the original design in the British archives, is here 
offered as a rare liistorical curiosity.'^ 
()^.^ It would seem as if every separate interest in Ehode 

11. Island determined to be heard on its own account by 
the King. The people of Providence sent an address re- 
signing their charter, asldng to be annexed to the general 
New England government, and disowning the Assembly's 
address. This was the seventh memorial that was sent 
from this colony within about three months.-^ 

The revocation of the edict of Nantes, that glorious 
decree by which Henry of Navarre secured toleration to 
the Protestants of France, was the crowning act of Jesuit 
intrigue which only the genius of Colbert had hitherto foil- 
ed. Upon his death the last obstacle to the extirpation 
of Calvinism in France was removed. The edict of Henry 
IV. was revoked by Louis XIV., liberty of conscience was 
abolished, and a fierce persecution of the Huguenots en- 
sued. More than half a million of the most sldlful, in- 
dustrious and loyal subjects of the Bourbon fled from tlieir 

' Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. iv. p. 2G7. 

"^ Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. iv. p. 223. 

^ The 1st, froni the Assembly, July 3. 2d. Divers freemen, July 16. 3d. 
Randal Holden's. 4th. Justices of Narraganset. 5th. Pawtuxet. Gth. Quakers, 
all in August. 7th. Providence, Oct. 11. Only the first of these is found 
upon our State records. The originals of them all are filed in the British 
State I'aper Office, London, as referred to in the notes. 



^^^^^^-^^^lf^^^2;^^?^^./. 




flAQ ofMW ENGLAND, UNDER SIR EDMUND ^VNDROS 



FROM A DRAFT IN THE BRITISH STATE PAPER OFFICE^ 
NEW ENGLAND PAPERS .VOL. 4 'PAGE 233 ] 



D APPLETON &C° PUBLISHERS . NEW YORK 



'JVMO.rXijSM i , 



THE HUGUEXOTS IN RHODE ISLAND. 497 

native land, and introduced into otlicr conntries tlie arts 
and commerce of which they were masters.' The effect 
upon France for a time was scarcel)^ less disastrous 
than that which followed the expulsion of the Jews in 
Spain, two centuries hefore, by Ferdinand and Isabella. 
The banished Huguenots carried with them over the 
world the blessings of a vital ttiith, of frugal habits, 
and the knowledge of new sources of useful and elegant 
industry. Wherever they settled their descendants re- 
main, to this da}^, living witnesses of the loss entailed by 
Jesuit craft ux)on the country of their origin. Numbers 
of them emigrated to America ; some of these found 
their way to New England, and settled in Rhode Island, 
where they could enjoy the freedom that was denied them 
at home. An agreement Avas made between the Narra- 12 
ganset proprietors and the Eev. Ezekiel Carre and P. 
Berton, in behalf of the French refugees, for the settle- 
ment of a place called Newberry Plantation, but this be- 
ing too far from the sea, another spot was selected, near 
John Foanes' house in Eochester (Kingston), and a new 
agreement made between the parties." The price fixed ^" 
was four shillings an acre, cash, or twenty-five pounds for 
every one hundred acres, being five shillings an acre, pay- 
able in three years, with interest at six per cent., there- 
after. Each family was to have one hundred acres of up- 
land, if they desired so much, and a proportionate part 
of meadow. M. Carre, the minister, was to have one 
hundred and fifty acres gratis ; one hundred acres were as- 
signed as glebe laud, and fifty acres to support a Protest- 
ant schoolmaster. Forty-five families commenced the 

' This celebrated edict was issued by Henry IV. in 1598, and revoked by 
Louis XIV., Oct. 24. 1685. 800,000 Protestants fled from France during the 
persecution that ensued. England gained immensely by this fatal policy of 
her inveterate foe. 50,000 artisans sought refuge in London, and introduced 
tlie manufacture of silk, crystal glasses, jewelry, and other fine works, many 
of them before unknown, but ever since successfully prosecuted in England. 
Anderson's History of Commerce. 

VOL. I. — 32 



4. 



4D8 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, settlement, built a clmrcli and twenty-five houses, and 

^J_^_^ prospered for some years until dispersed by the lawless 

1 08G. conduct of their neiohbors, as will hereafter be shown. ^ 
Dec . 

20 ' At length the Kose frigate, bearing tSir Edmund An- 

dros, with two companies of royal troops, the first ever 
stationed in New England, and, except those sent for the 
conquest of New Netherlands, the first ever seen here, 
arrived at Boston. The Dudley government was super- 
seded, and the president made chief justice. Andros, 
by liis commission, was in effect absolute, having power to 
appoint and remove members of his council. With their 
consent he could enact laws, levy taxes, and control the 
militia of the country. He proceeded at once to organize 
a system of despotism which has made his memory de- 
1G8C. tested wherever freedom has a name. Duiing the two 
April years and four months that his administration existed, the 
108 9. people of New England were at the mercy of a tyrant. 
Massachusetts suffered most, as she was the wealthiest 
and most powerful of the colonies, and she felt most keenly 
the first blow inflicted by her persecutor — wherein Ehode 
Island could have no sympathy with her griefs — the over- 
tltrow of the Puritan theocracy, and the introduction of 
the services of the Episcopal Church. But in the greater 
part of his acts, ail the colonies suffered alike in propor- 
tion to their strength. Taxes were levied without consent 
of the people. Public fees were enormously increased, 
that of probate some twenty-fold. Town governments 
were almost annihilated, colonics were made simple coun- 
ties, and the whole country reduced to one vast province. 
Writs of intrusion involved landed proprietors in expen- 
sive suits to defend or confirm their titles. Marriages by 

' The agreement, and the rumoiistrauce of Dr. Pierre Ayrault in 1705, 
from which the above facts are talvcu, are filed in Br. S. P. 0., New England, 
vol. 13, together with a plot of French town containing the names of all the 
families on their separate lots. A copy of tlie former is in Trnmbuirs papers, 
vol. 22, No. 114, in Mass. Hist. Soc. 



ADMINISTRATION OF ANDROS. 499 

civil magistrates were at first tolerated from necessity, and chai'. 
afterwards interdicted, and the performance of this rite ^^^^ 
was confined to the Episcopal clergy, of whom there was 1 <"> B 0. 
hut one in Massachusetts. Tlie odious system of pass- 
ports was established. The form of administering oaths 
was changed from the Puritan mode of holding up the 
right hand, to that of laying the hand on the Bible — a 
dangerous approach, some thought, to the Papal custom 
of hissing the cross. By this innovation the Puritan 
might learn to regret his own disregard of the conscien- 
tious Quaker. And what was perhaps the bitterest inflic- 
tion of all, in connection with the introduction of the 
Episcopal forms, the Baptists, Quakers, and other dissent- 
ers from the established Puritan church, were encouraged 
in their refusal to pay the tax for the support of the set- 
tled clergy. But in Khode Island, where iio established 
church ever existed, this latter grievance, and those spring- 
ing from kindred sources, were not felt; but, on the con- 
trary, a sympathy upon these j^oints with the new gov- 
ernment, that had the strength and the will to enforce 
one of her cardinal principles upon her early persecutors, 
was cordially entertained. Tlie bearing of Andres, in his 
official communications with Khode Island, was always in 
friendly contrast to his intercourse with the other colonies. 
The courtesy extended to him, as governor of New York, 
some years before, was not forgotten. The tyrant was at 
least a gentleman, and showed as much gratitude for for- 
mer civilities as was consistent with the nature of his com- 
mission. He addressed a letter to Rhode Island, in mild ^'^^' 
terms, demanding the surrender of the charter, and desig- 
nating seven persons as members of his council for this 
government, who were to meet at Boston at the first gen- 
eral council.' He also wrote friendly letters to Gov. 
Clarke, concerning the submission of the Assembly and 

' These were Walter Clarke, Jo. Sandford, Joliti Coggeshall, Walter.New- 
bury, Jobu Greene, Richard Arnold, and Jolin Alljorough, Esqs. 



I 



500 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, surrender of the cliarter. ' His arrival was the signal for 
S^^ sending petitions upon disputed land claims. Richard 
1 6 8 G. Sniith, of Narraganset, lost no time in petitioning for 
relief from the molestations of the Rhode Islanders at 
Hog Island. This little islet had already occasioned the 
waste of almost as much paper since its purchase, forty 
years before, as would suffice to cover it, 
30 The first council of Gov. Andros, which met at Bos- 

ton, consisted of nineteen members, of whom five were 
from Rhode Island.'- The royal commission was read, and 
also the instructions to receive the charter of Rhode Isl- 
and. The oaths of office and allegiance were then taken 
by all but the two Quaker members from Rhode Island, 
Clarke and Newbury, whose affirmation was received in- 
stead. A proclamation continuing all officers, civil and 
military, and all laws not repugnant to those of England, 
during his Excellency's pleasure, was agreed upon.^ As 
this was the first, so was it the last full meeting of the 
Andros council. The distant luembers returned home, 
and those only who lived at or near Boston regularly at- 
tended. They had but little inffiience. Four or five, 
whose interests were chiefly in England, controlled tlie 
action of the whole. Opposition was silenced by the min- 
ions of Andros, some of whose advisers were not of the 
council. It docs not appear that the Rhode Island mem- 
bers attended another general council This was a gloomy 
period in New England history. Inaction prevailed among 
the freemen of the towns. The calm of despotism settled 
over the colonies. 
1G8G-7. Soon after this first council meeting, Andros' com- 

12 " mission, as governor of this colony with the rest of New 
England, Connecticut excepted, was published in Rhode 

' -2. M. H. C, vol. 8, pp. 180-181. 11. I. Col. Rec, iii, 219. 
" Those naincd iu Andros' letter except Sandford and Greene, the lattei 
of whem was in England as agent of the colony. 
= 3. M. H. C, viii. 181. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 220. 



ANDROS PROTECTS DISSENTERS. 501 

Island, and the colony was declared to be one county.' chap. 
John Greene was then in England as agent. The policy ^^ 
of the crown was by this time too obvious to render it ex- 1686-7. 
pedient to seek a continuance of the charter. He there- {9 " 
fore confined his efforts to minor objects, and petitioned 
in behalf of the towns for relief from the interruptions 
given by the Narraganset proprietors, and others, to the 
quiet possession of their lands; and also to his Majesty's 
interests in Kings Province, and prayed that thepe mat- 
ters mic-ht be referred to Gov. Andros.- The town of Feb. 

• • • -IS 

Bristol, which had been settled not quite six years, peti- ■■" 

tioned Andros for relief from a tax of one penny per 
pound, levied throughout the province for the support of 
government. It was the custom to relieve new settle- 
ments from taxation for seven years. This had been guar- 
anteed to the purchasers of Bristol by the Plymouth 
committee, who made the sale. A representation of these 
facts was made by the selectmen of the town,' but with 
what effect there is no record to show. 

The Narraganset proprietors applied to Sir Edmund 24. 
for a confirmation of their titles. They furnished him a 
copy of the proceedings of the Cranfield commission, with 
the evidence there presented, and requested an opportu- 
nity to defend their claim against all opponents.* The 
event proved that this was an unfortunate step for the 
proprietors. The late Gov. Hinckley incautiously com- 
jilained to Andros of the letter of Eandolph, who retained 
the same position he had held under Dudley, as secretary 
of the council, in which he had reproved the Plymouth • 
magistrate for taxing dissenters for the support of the March 
ministry. Sir Edmund replied sharply, forbidding the 5. 

' Callender ia R. I. H. C, iv. 102. Clialmers' Political Annals, 278-9. 
- Br. S. P. 0., New Eng., vol. iv. p. 429. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 221. 
^ Benjamin Church, John Rogers, Thomas Walker. R. I. Col. Rec, 
ii. 222. 

* Tnimbull papers, vol. 22, Nos. 127-S. !\Iass. Hist. See. 



502 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, constable to execute tlie warrant against the Quaker, and 
,_^^!^ warning Hinckley to be faithful to the King." 

168G-7. In reply to the Ehode Island address, further instruc- 

]\Iarcli . 

II tions w^ere sent to Aiitlros^ granting the freedom of con- 
science asked by the Assembly. This was consistent with 
the policy of James, who sought,, by promulgating the 
doctrine of religious liberty, to undermine the Episcopal 
church, and thus, in time, to restore the Papal power in 
England. With tliis object he soon after issued the Dec- 
laration of Indulgence, nominally, at least, leaving his 
subjects to obey their own consciences in spiritual mat- 
ters.- 

1 G 87. T]jg membei's of the Andros government were constant- 

March . 

25. ly changing. A new list of twelve names, to till vacancies 

already existing in the council, was sent to London. 
Three of these were from Rhode Island and Kings Prov- 
ince.^ In the letters accompanying this list, Andros gives 
an account of the condition of his province, and states 
that Connecticut has not yet submitted, and that it is 
important to unite her to the rest of New England, as 
wheat and provisions are chiefly supplied by her.'' The 
difficulties that environed Andros, formed the subject of 
frequeiit letters from Randolph and himself to the home 
May government. In one of these to the Board of Trade, the 
21. former says, " His Excellency has to do with a perverse 
people," and complains that but few members of tlie 
council manifest any interest for his Majesty. 

The duties of the General Assembly and of the Court 
. of Trials, both of which were superseded by the new gov- 
ernment, now devolved upon a Court that met quarterly, 

' Hutcliiuson's Mass., i. 357, note. 

" Hume, chap. 70. The declaration was issued April 4, 1087. A copy 
of it, apparently the official one sent to this colony, is preserved among the 
Foster MSS., vol. i. in R. I. Hist. Soc. 

' Richard Smith, Francis Brinley, and Peleg Saudfoi'd. 

* Br. S. P. 0., New Eng., vol. iv. pp. 287, 291, 297. R. I. Col. Rec, 
iii. 223-4. 



30. 



S^arr., R. I. H. C, iii. 220. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 225. 
0., New Eng., vol. iv. p. 795. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 225. 
ipers, vol. i. 



' Potter's N 

^Br. S. P. C, 

^ Foster papers, vol. i. 



2'.». 



ANDEOS IN RHODE ISLAND. 503 

and was called " The General Quarter Sessions and In- chap. 
ferior Court of Common Pleas." The first meeting of _^^i_ 
this new tribunal was held at Newport, for Rhode Island, 10 87. 
Kings Province, and Providence. It was composed of {^"it; 
nine justices, of whom Francis Brinley was chairman and 
judge. Its proceedings were unimportant. Jurymen and 
constables were sworn. Private petitions vv^ere referred 
to justices of the peace in the different towns. Over- 
seers of the poor were appointed for every town. Licenses 
for Newport were granted, but the sale of liquors in Kings 
Province was forbidden. 

The questions of ownership in Narraganset having been 
referred to Gov. Andros, he ordered a careful survey of the 22. 
country, and a plat to be made marking the several 
claims.' Several parcels of land were granted by him to 
Richard Wharton, at an annual quit-rent of ten shillings 
an acre.'^ This is the first case, except that of Prudence 
Island, of the introduction of this species of tenure in 
Rhode Island. The revenue duties under Andros were 
farmed out by the treasurer of the Province, John Usher. 
Nathaniel Byfield of Bristol was by him appointed farmer 
of excise in this district, as appears by an original Avarrant 
in his name to John Whipple " to receive the whole excise 8." 
of all sortes of drinke, that shall be sould within the town- 
shipp of Providence by retaile," for one year.^ 

The intrusions that ultimately broke up the French 
settlement were commenced by their neighbors on the first 
summer of their planting. The meadovrs belonging to 
them, or set apart for their use, were unlawfully mowed 
and the hay carried off, leaving them without fodder for 
their cattle. Complaints were made to Gov. Andros, who 
ordered an examination of the matter. The hay was se- Aug. 
cured and stacked, and a further order was issued dividing 



Julv 



5. 



Oct 
25. 



504 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, it, one half to certain needy persons in Eochester and 
^^ Deptford, and the other half to the French families, until 
16 87. the rights of the parties could he determined.^ 
' l^l ' The next quarter court was held at Eochester, or 

Kingston, at which the overseers of the poor were em- 
powered to assess taxes for the relief of paupers in their 
respective towns. A petty sessions, for prohate husiness 
only, at which but three justices were present, was after- 
wards held at Newj)ort. 
2G. Sir Edmund Andros, with over sixty regular troops, 

now proceeded to Hartford, where the Assembly was sit- 
ting, to overawe the government of Connecticut and com- 
pel a surrender of the charter. It was at this time that 
the sacred instrument was hidden in the ancient oak to 
preserve it from his grasp. This object was accomplished, 
l)ut it did not prevent him from seizing the government. 
Taking the records of the colony, he wrote beneath them, 
with his own hand, the transfer of the government to him- 
3t. self, and closed the volume with the signihcant word, in- 
scribed in glaring capitals — FINIS.'- 

Connecticut had more reason than any other colony to 
dread the despotic spirit of Andros ; for just at the coni- 
4. mencement of Philip's war, when he was governor of New 
York, he appeared with a naval force before Saybrook, and 
was only deterred by the resolute conduct of Capt. Bull, 
commander of the fort, from making an attack in prose- 
cuting the claim of the Duke of York, under an old patent 
^ that compreliended Connecticut in his dominions."' The 
memory of this repulse added to his rancor, while the 
Prince in whose behalf he was then acting was now the 
monarch of England. Well might the gallant colo- 
nists refuse to admit liis authority, and resort to every 



' n. M. H. C, vii. 182. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 228. 
- Trumbull, Hist, of Conn., ch. xv. vol. i. p. 372. 
=* July 8 to 12, 1G75. Trumbull, ch. xiv. vol, i. 1% 328. 



KINGS PROVINCE DISPUTE DECIDED. 505 

means of throwing a taint of illegality over his proceed- chap. 
ings. ' ^^^• 

A full report was at this time made by Gov. Andres 1 G 8 7. 
upon the various claims to the Narraganset country. The ^ " 
great claim of the Atherton company was thrown out, as 
having -been based upon grants extorted through terror 
from the Indians by the illegal acts of the United Colo- 
nies. The submission of the Sachems, in 1644, vested the 
propriety in Charles I., since which no grant of jurisdic- 
tion liad been made in that region except to Connecticut 
and Khode Island, The Connecticut claim was repudiated 
for the reasons expressed in the Rhode Island charter, which 
latter had been confirmed by the commissioners of 1664, 
who had disavowed both the other claims. Several titles 
from the Indians, and from Rhode Island, to individuals 
are mentioned. The rights of Rhode Island over the 
Kings Province were thus again, for the third time, se- 
cured to her, as against Connecticut in point of jurisdic- 
tion, and against the so-called proprietors in point of 
ownership. - 

From Hartford Andros visited Fairfield, and returning Nov, 
by the sea-side, completed the annexation of Connecticut 
by appointing the principal persons in the various towns 
as justices.^ Stopping at Newport with his troops, he pro- 

' An anccdoto that illustrates alike tlie wit of the great Puritan divine, 
Dr. Hooker, and the hatred felt in Connecticut for Andros, is preserved by 
Hon. Theodore Foster, among his MS. collections. Foster Papers, vol. ix. 
" While Sir Edmund Andros was at Hartford, he met Dr. Hooker one morning, 
and said, ' I suppose all the good people of Connecticut are fasting and pray- 
ing oir my account.' The Doctor replied, 'Yes, we read, This kind goeth not 
out but by fasting and prayer.' " 

'^ Br. S. P. 0., New Eng., vol. iv. p. 762. No date is affixed to this copy 
of the Eeport, but a reference to it in a later document upon the same ques- 
tion in 1697 dates this paper, Oct. 1687. A marginal memorandum men- 
tions that, prior to the submission of 1644, the Council of Plymouth had con- 
veyed the tract to the Hamilton family, in 1635, in whom the title still vested, 
if that conveyance was legal. 

=^ Letter to Board of Trade from Boston, Nov. 28, 1687. Br. S. P. 0., N. 
E. V. 4, p. 579. 



28. 



506 HISTOEY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

posed to take possession of the charter of Rhode Ishmd. 
But ill this attempt he was foiled l)y the foresight of the 
cautious Clarke, who, on hearing of his arrival, sent the 
precious parchment to his brother, with orders to have it 
concealed in some place unknown to himself, hut within 
the knowledge of the secretary. He then waited upon Sir 
Edmund, and invited him to his house, A great search 
was made for the coveted document, hut it could nowhere 
he found while Andros remained in Newport. After he 
left it was returned to Grov. Clarke, who kept it until the 
fall of Andros permitted a resumption of the government 
under it. ' The seal of the colony was however produced 
and broken by Andros. A new one was made as soon as 
it was needed.'- In his letter to the Board of Trade, con- 
cerning the annexation of Connecticut, written directly 
after this affair, Andros makes no allusion to the success- 
ful ruse of the governor of Rhode Island, nor does he even 
refer to the mysterious disappearance of the Connecticut 
charter, 
p^^g The third quarter sessions was held, at Newport, with 

13. but five justices present. An order was passed to prevent 
danger from fire in the compact portions of the town. 
Should any chimney take fire, the person using it was to 
forfeit two and sixpence, and each householder was to place 
a ladder, reaching to the ridge pole, against every dwelling 
house that he owned. Andros, following an established 
custom, had appointed the first of December as a day of 
thanksgiving. The proclamation was generally disregard- 
ed, and parties were brought l)efore the Courts for con- 
2^ tempt. One of these answered to the charge of keeping 
open his shop on that day " that he was above the obser- 
vation of days and times." Another said that his boy 
opened the shop, and worked upon his own account, but 
that if he had not been lame he did not know but he 

' Foster MS3., Bound vol. ii. p. 337. 
- Br. S. P. 0., New Eng., vol. v. p. 7-i. 



GRANTS TO THE ATHERTON COMPANY. 507 

should have Avorked himself ! Thus general was the sphit chap. 
of discontent at the loss of their liberties felt even in .^^^ 
Khode Island, where the yoke of tyranny rested compara- 1 (> 8 7. 
tively lightly. A tax of one hundred and sixty pounds 
was ordered for building a court house in Newport and one 
in Rochester. The committee appointed to do the work 
wrote to Gov. Andros on the subject, and nominated John 15. 
Woodman of Newport to be treasurer of the Province or 
County of Rhode Island if his Excellency should approve. * 
Soon after the report of Andros upon Narraganset 
reached England, Lord Culpeper again petitioned, in be- 
half of the Atherton company, for a number of grants, 
amounting in all to sixty thousand acres in Kings Prov- 1C87-8. 
ince, to be selected by themselves, in lieu of the whole 
country, heretofore claimed. They asked that the land 
sold by them to the French refugees should be included in i:j. 
the grant, and that the bass ponds might be reserved to 
them, as also the use of the waste lands adjoining their 
settlements.- There were sufficient reasons why this re- 
quest should be granted, although the terms in which it 
was expressed — "your petitioners for their parts being 
willing to consent, in lieu of the whole which is of great 
extent, to accept of part thereof under such quit-rent as 
your Majesty shall think fit " — were not very modest or 
appropriate for parties whose entire claim had just been 

set aside. The roval council accordino;ly instructed An- \^^.^- 

o .; April 

dros that, as these petitioners had an equitable pretence 10. 

to receive favor, he should assign to them such lands as 

were not already occupied, they paying a quit-rent of two 

and sixpence for every one hundred acres. ^ 

The spring term of the Common Pleas A\'as held at 

. March 

Kingston, or Rochester as it was then called. An order q_ 

encouraging the fishery in Pettaquamscot pond was pass- 

' Potter's Narr. 221. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 228. 
- Br. S. P. 0., New Eug., vol. iv. p. 762. 
=' Br. S. P. 0., New Eiig., vol. xxxiv. p. 8. 



508 HISTORY OP THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, ed, and a tax of over fifty-three pounds was laid upon the 
^3^ whole Provmce, or County, to pay for the killing of wolves 
1688. therein. These animals were still veiy numerous and 
^ ^^' troublesome. The records of Warwick show that some 
liad been killed in that town within a recent period. ' 

The commission under which Sir Edmund Andros had 
hitherto acted did not include Ehode Island and Connec- 
ticut, although he was empowered hy it to receive their 
7. charters. A new commission was sent out^ confirming his 
government over all New England, and annexing thereto 
the Provinces of New York and the Jerseys, under the gen- 
eral name of New England, with a council of forty-two per- 
sons named therein, seven of whom were from Ehode Isl- 
and.'- Five members were to constitute a quorum in 
emergencies, and seven in any case. The seal of New 
York was to be broken, and that of New England, before 
described, used in its phice. Liberty of conscience, in ac- 
cordance with the declaration of indulgence, was to be per- 
mitted ; but the freedom of the press was made subject to 
10. the will of Andros. The instructions accompanying the 
commission were very full, and are chiefly exceptionable 
from the discretionary power vested in certain cases in the 
governor.^ 

The news of the prospect of a direct heir to the throne, 
caused great rejoicing among the Papal party in England, 
and was received with consternation by the Protestants, 
l^ A proclamation for a day of public thanksgiving and 
prayer was issued by Andros, and sent to every county or 
province in his wide dominion. The appointed day was 
not observed with a zeal commensurate to the occasion, in 
""j^ tlie opinion of tlie Viceroy. The birth of the Prince of 



' 0)1 20 April, lG7-t, old Piimham killed a wolf in AVarwick, and on 29 Jan. 
1680, a bounty of twenty shillings a bead was offered for tbeir destruction. 

- AValter Clarke, John Coggesball, Walter Newberry, John Greene, Ilicb- 
ard Arnold, Jolin Alborough, and Richard Smith. 

^ R. I. Col. Rec. iii. 248-54. 



ANDKOS MOVES TO NEW YORK. 509 

Wales, afterward known as the Pretender, caused much cifAi'. 
discussion in Enghind. Sus2)icions were rife against the ,3^ 
legitimacy of this heir to the throne; and when, upon 108 8. 
news of the event reaching America, Andros issued an- •^y* 
other proclamation of thanksgiving for the Queen's happy 
delivery, it was less flivorahly received than the former 
had been. The people generally credited the injurious 
reports circulated in England. 

The June session of the Court was held at Newport. *^™'^ 
Nine justices were iirescnt. New constables were sworn 
for every town in the county. Providence having disre- 
garded the orders relative to the last two taxes, the consta- 
bles were required to levy by distraint for their collection. 
Some persons in the vicinity of Newport having escaped 
taxation, the assessors were ordered to perfect the rate 
list by including them. 

Upon receipt of his new commission. Sir Edmund An- Jnly 
dros moved his head-quarters to New York, supplanted "*' 
Col. Dongan, the late governor, and settled the govern- 
ment. Frencli intrigues with the hostile Indians led the 
government to take some measures to protect the friendly 
tribes, which were afterwards brought up against Andros 
as evidence of favor towards them, to the j^rejudice of the 
colonists. Depositions to this effect were taken in Khode 
Island and elsewhere, tending to excite the people against 
him.' 

At the autumn Court, held in Ilochester, granting g^pt. 
licenses and the trial of criminal causes was the only '^• 
business. The succeeding session at Newport was the 
last at which any legislation was had. The fire ordinance n. 

' These were publisbecl in " The Revolution in New England Justifieil," p. 
2G. Boston, IG'Jl. This book was culled torch by one entitled, " An Answer 
to the Declaration of the Inhabitants of Boston and the country adjacent, on 
the day when they secured their oppressor," by John Palmer of New York, 
one of Sir Edmund Andros's Council. The declaration referred to was issued 
on the seizure of Andros, April 18, 1G89 — a printed copy of which is iu Br. 
S. P. 0., New England, vol. v. pp. 9, 10. 



13. 



March 
5. 



510 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, in Newport, having been neglected, was re-enacted, and 
,,^^_1, tlie fines resulting therefrom were appropriated for the 
1688-9. jjoor of the town. A tax of one hundred and twenty 
pounds was levied, but never collected, for before the day 
appointed in the act for the assessors to meet, the revolu- 
tion broke out. The justices often, met for probate busi- 
2^ ness, in the interval, of the quarter Courts. One meeting 
is recorded during this winter. Once more the Court of 
Common Pleas assembled at Rochester, between which 
place and Newport the Courts for this county alternated. 
It was the last meeting of the Andros government in 
Ehode Island. The only thing done was to fine a man 
two and fourpence for planting a jieach tree on Sunday. 
IS, Some of the justices met a few days later for probate busi- 
ness, and this closes the records of the " usurpation," as 
it is often called, in Ehode Island. 

Meanwhile a great change had taken place in English 
politics. The long struggle between privilege and jirerog- 
ative had closed in violence, if not in blood. William, 
Prince of Orange, whose wife was the eldest daughter of 
James, had invaded England with a fleet of five hundred 
vessels, and an army of fourteen thousand men. The 
1G80. King had fled to France, and a Protestant dynasty was 
^ 4. secured to England in the persons of William and Mary. 
The news of this revolution was the signal for the fall of 
Andros. The messenger who brought it was imjDrisoned 
at Boston, but the great intelligence could not be con- 
cealed. The minds of the people Avere ripe for revolt. 
The detested usurper was doomed. The i:)rincipal citi- 
zens, including some members of his own council, assem- 
bled at the town house, and signed a summons to Sir Ed- 
mund Andros to surrender the government. This they 
urged for his own welfare, assuring him of safety in case 
of compliance, but otherwise threatening that the fortifi- 
cations should be taken by storm.' A lengthy declaration 

' A broadside in Br. S. P. 0., New Eng., vol. v. p. 1 1. E. I. Col. Rec, iii. 25G. 



18. 



REVOLUTION AGAINST ANDKOS. 511 

of the inhabitants of Boston, set forth in thirteen sections chap. 
the grievances of the people as the ground of their action, .J^^l^ 
the burden of which instrument was, that "New England 1 6 8 9. 
beheld the wicked walking on every side, and the vilest " i^ ' 
men exalted.'" Capt. George, of the Kose frigate, was 
seized as he came on shore in the morning, and carried to 
prison. The Governor and his attendants, attempting to 
appease the council assembled at the town house, were 
treated in the same manner. Andres refused to send or- 
ders to surrender the fort. Thereupon his secretary, Ran- 
dolph, was seized, and a pistol presented at his breast, 
threatening him with instant death if he did not accom- 
pany his captors to the fort, and there represent to the 
commandant that the Governor required him to surrender 
it at once to the jieople. This ruse succeeded. Five 
thousand men were by this time under arms. The ven- 
erable Gov. Bradstrcet, now eighty-seven years old, who 
had been supplanted by Dudley, was reinstated by accla- 
mation. The castle, situated a league below the town, 
was summoned in the same manner, but with a different 
result. The commander, suspecting the violence offered 
to Eandolph, refused to obey. The courage displayed 
by Andros at this crisis, was worthy of a better cause. 
Threats of violence were vainly employed to extort from 
him an order for the surrender of the castle. Although 
told that he and his adherents should be put to the sword 
unless instant compliance was made, he firmly refused to 
yield the point. The next day a committee of gentlemen 
prevailed on the garrison to surrender, with the jiromise • 
of their liberty, but on reaching the town they were all 
ihrown into prison. The fort, the jail, and the castle, 
were all used as prisons for the civil and military officers 
of the late government, twenty-five of whom were closely 
confined with their leader.- 

' See note ante p. 509. Br. S. P, 0., New England, vol. v. pp. 9-10. 

* Kiggs' narrative of tlie Boston Revolution. Br. S. P. 0., New England, 



512 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

When news of this affair reached Rhode Island, Dud- 
ley, the chief justice, who had gone to Narraganset to 
hold a Court, was seized by a party of Providence men. 
taken to Roxhnry, and afterwards committed to prison, 

23. A letter was circulated among the j^cople, from Newport, 
in cautious terms, recommending them to assemble there, 
" before the day of usual election by charter," to consult 
upon what course should be adoj^ted.' In accordance with 
this call, the freemen of Rhode Island, Providence, and 

l'-^ Kings Province, assembled at Newport, and put forth a 
declaration of their reasons for resuming the charter gov- 
ernment.- At the same time they adopted an address 
" to the present supreme power of England," stating that 
the fall of Andros obliged them to resume their old form 
of government, which they prayed might be confirmed to 
them; and that as they were "not only ignorant of what 
titles should be given in this overture, but also not so 
rhetorical as becomes such ]3ersonages," they hoped their 
deficiencies on this point might be overlooked. Thus 
easily and quietly did Rhode Island revert to her former 
freedom; and not knowing yet who might be victorious in 
England, adopted this cautious and politic form of ad- 
dress. But the wary Clarke hesitated to accept his former 
post, and for ten months Rhode Island was without an 
acknowledged governor. The dejjuty governor, John Cog- 
geshall, with several of the old assistants, })oldly resumed 
their functions. Connecticut followed immediately and 
more thoroughly, restoring all her former ofiicers, conven- 
ing her assembly, and resuming at once the government 

vol. V. p. 7. Capt. George's account, p. S4, and list of prisoners, p. -IS. R. I. 
Col. Rec, iii. '257. 

' This letter is signed W. C, J. C. What appears to be the original is 
preserved in the Foster papers, vol. iv. The handwriting, the cautions lan- 
guage, and the first initial signature, all attest the authorship of Gov. Walter 
Clarke. It is printed in Stajile's Annals, 176, and R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 257. 

- R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 2GS, where by error of type the declaration is dat'?d 
1G9U. 



ACCESSION OF WILLIAM AND MARY. 513 

under her long hidden charter. Plymouth took the same chap. 
course under Hinckley. In Jilassachusetts a convention of ,3!L 
representatives of the several towns was held, who unani- 
mously voted to re-organize the government with the 
same officers who had been superseded three years before. 
These officers accepted the trust provisionally, declaring 
that in so doing they did '* not intend an assumption of 04 
charter government." ' Two days later a ship arrived at 
Boston with the joyful news that WiUiam and Mary had ^^'• 
ascended the throne. The acting governor and council of 
Rhode Island immediately proclaimed the new monarclis 
in every town of the colony; and the same was done, with 
the greatest demonstrations of loyalty and delight, through- 
out New England. 

Dr. Increase Mather had secretly escaped from Bos- 
ton, before the revolution, and gone to England to repre- 
sent the cause of the colonists. Upon the accession of 
William III., he had an audience with the King, who 
promised that Andros should be recalled.'^ The order was 'J"'>" 
issued in due time, requiring the authorities of Massachu- 
setts to send home Sir Edmund Andros and his fellow 
prisoners, by the first vessel, to answer for their conduct 
to the king. 3 Andros, by the aid of his servant, who per- 
suaded the sentinel to drink, and then to suffer him to 
stand guard in his stead, escaped from the castle and fled 
to Ehode Island. At Newport he was captured by Major ' 3 ^" 
Sandford, and sent back to Boston,' where a hngering im- 
prisonment of half, a year still awaited him. 

The deputy governor and council of Rhode Island peti- 

' Two broadsides in Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. v. pp. 12-U. The Br. 
Mrchives abound in documents pertaining to the revolution in New England. 
Volume V. of New England papers is full of pamphlets, broad.sides, and MS. 
letters from both parties upon this subject. 

" March 14, 1688-9. A curious account of this audience, from Cotton 
Mather's Life of his Father, is in 1 M. H. C, ix. 245-.")3. 

= Hutchinson, i. 391, note. 3 j\L H. C, vii. 191. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 256. 

' Hutch, i. 392. Randolph to Board of Trade from Boston gaol, Sept. 5, 
1089. Br. S. P. 0., New Enohuid, vol. v. p. 9-t. 



514 HISTOEY or THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND, 

CHAP, tioned the tlirone for a confirmation of their cliarter, re- 
_____ hearsing the circumstances of its resumption, of the proc- 
]r,s9-9o. lamafcion of their majesties, and of the late seizure of 
30. Andros/ The long confinement of Andros and his asso- 
ciates was about to terminate. For nearly ten months 
they had expiated their acts of tyranny in a Puritan 
prison. The order for their return to England for trial 
had arrived, and the vessel was now ready to sail. The 
haughty royalist, who had too faithfully executed the 
mandates of a despotic master, returned as a prisoner 
Ft'^j- from the country which, sixteen years hefore, he had first 
visited as a ruler, and to which he was again to return, 
within two years, as governor of Virginia. 

In reviewing the administration of Andros in New 
England, an impartial judge cannot fail to discover, 
among the principal causes which have made his memory 
odious, that he inflicted a mortal wound upon the Puri- 
tan theocracy. The hierarchy, of which Hooker, and Cot- 
ton and the Mathers were the heads, never fully recovered 
its prestige. To this, in a great measure, is due the de- 
testation that ottaches to his name. Cotcmporary de- 
jumciation has been echoed in later times by tliose who 
liave no sympathy with the religious intolerance that 
evoked it, but who, either through carelessness or timidity, 
have neglected to analyze the conduct of Andros, or have 
feared to present it in what we believe to be the j ust light. 
He conscientiously and fearlessly obeyed the commands 
of his sovereign, and in entering upon his difficult mission 
he displayed a nice sense of the delicate position he was 
called to fill, utterly at variance with the character of 
brutality assigned to him by his Puritan critics. The 
opinions of men who maligned the purity of Williams, of 
Clarke, and of Gorton, who " bore false witness " to the 
character and the acts of some of the wisest and best men 
who ever lived in New England, who strove to blast the 

' Original iii Br. S. P. 0., New Englantl, vol. v. p. 219. E. I. Col. Rec. 
iii. 2,5S. 



REVIEW OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF ANDROS. 515 

reputation of people whose liberal views they could not com- chap. 
prehend, who collected evidence to crush the good name ^^ 
of their more virtuous opponents, by casting upon them 10 8 9. 
the odium of acts wherein they were themselves the guilty 
parties, who committed outrages, in the name of God, far 
more barbarous than the worst with which they ever charged 
" the usurper," — the opinions of such men, we say, are 
not to be received without a challenge, and the conclusions 
to which a candid examination brings us are not to be 
withheld, because differing in some points from the whole- 
sale denunciation hitherto employed against Andros. For 
the tyrannical points of his administration his master is 
to blame ; for the petty oppressions that often rendered its 
execution vexatious we believe that his tools were more 
culpable than liimself Their object was to enrich them- 
selves at the expense of the people, and their practice was 
to charge upon their leader the extortions that rendered 
his administration grievous. The wide dominion over 
which Andros held control could only be organized, under 
the system of James, by delegating power, and this 
was too often placed in irresponsible hands. Eandolph, 
the secretary, was the author of many of the acts for 
whicb Andros, as the governor, is held responsible. The 
mutual hatred between him and the colonists was undis- 
uuised, but posterity has shielded the infamy of the legis- 
lator beneath the mantle of the executive. William III. 
was looked upon as a mild and liberal monarch, yet upon 
tlie arrival of Andros in England the charges ' against 
him were dismissed by the royal order on the ground of 
insufficiency — that he had done nothing which was not 
fully justified by his instructions ; and in compensation 
for his imprisonment in New England, he was soon after 
appointed to succeed Ef&ngham, as governor of Virginia, 

' These charges were prepared by Sir Henry Ashurst, Increase Mather 
and others, 14 April, 1690, and were answered by Andros and his associates, 
at great length, and with the result stated in the text. A draft of the charges, 
and the original reply are in Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. v. pp. 164, 106. 



51G HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP. The republican spirit of New Engiaud could not quietty 
J^^ submit to such a form of government as was prescribed 
1 8 9. by James II., however well it might be administered. 
The prejudice against this form has been unjustly directed 
upon the instrument employed to establish it, and Andros 
has consequently been portrayed ns a monster of tyranny. 
Yet it should be remembered, tliat for three years he 
ruled without interruption, which could scarcely have oc- 
curred had a tithe of these misrepresentations been true ; 
nor, till the news of the revolution in England reached 
Boston, was there a single attempt made to resist the 
government of this " incarnate despot." 

Although the government of Andros has been held 
up as one of absolute tyranny, and necessarily so for the 
reasons here given, the other New England colonies com- 
plained most bitterly of those acts which Ehode Island 
could not but approve, and some of which, as seeming to 
be favors shown to her, were construed into acts of hos- 
tility to them. So general is the predjudice against him 
to this day, that it may sound strange to say that in any 
respect Sir Edmund Andros was a benefactor to Khode 
Island. " The evil that men do lives after them, the 
good is often interred with their bones." So has it been 
with Andros. His will was arbitrary. His rule, even in 
Rhode Island, where it was 'mildest, was opjiressive ; but 
his acts, Avhere they were good, should not be forgotten, 
even though the evil predominates. He sought to estab- 
lish universal toleration in religion. This was abhorrent 
to the Puritans. In their estimation it was rampant 
Piliodc Islandism. His object, to be sure, was to secure 
a foothold for the church of Engiaud, not to favor the 
principle. But Ehode Island could not object to see her 
free ideas adopted by a despot, although v\'hat was a prin- 
ciple with her was merely policy with him. Again, the 
long disputed boundary with Connecticut was established 
by Andros, in accordance with the claims of Rhode Island. 
This added a new cause of complaint in which this State 



ROYALISTS AND REPUBLICANS. 517 

could not unite. And so long as he ruled, Rhode Island chap. 
was secure from the msults of her neigh hors, and protected Ji^ 
against them in her rights. The courteous treatment ^osa-oo. 
which he here received, compared with the rudeness else- 
where shown him, led him to represent Rhode Island, in 
his despatches, in favorable contrast with the other colo- 
nies. It is not improbable that the assurances of her loy- 
alty, repeatedly given by Andros, had some effect in secur- 
ing the tacit confirmation of her chartered rights under 
the succeeding reign. 

Two parties, royalist and republican, divided the col- 
ony. Prominent among the former was Francis Brinley, 
a distinguished merchant of Newport, whose letters dis- 
play the bitterness of faction in these troublous times. 
He denounced the action of the republicans in resuming the Feb. 
charter, and called for a settled government, to be estab- 
lished by the king, over all New England.' The bold at- 
titude of the republican party secured the freedom of the 
colony. In May they had reinstated all the old officers, 
and re-established all the laws superseded in 1686. The 
charter had been produced in open Assembly, and then re- 
turned to the custody of Gov. Clarke. The records of the 
colony were not forthcoming at that time, the former re- 
corder being dead, and the present custodian having refus- 
ed to deliver them except upon distraint. This act of re- 
sumption was afterward sanctioned by the king, upon re- 
ceiving the written opinion of the law officers of the crown, 
that the charters of Rhode Island and Connecticut, never 
having been revoked, but only suspended, still remained 
in full force and effect.'^ Had the royalists, who doubted 

' Abstracts of liis private letters are in Br. S. P. 0., New Eng., vol. v. p. 
413. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 259. 

- The opinions of Ward, and of the then Attorney and Solicitor General, 
iu the case of Connecticut, were rendered 2d August, 1G90, and apply equally 
to R. I. Hutchinson, i. 406 note. The opinion of Attorney General Ward 
specially upon the R. I. charter, was given three years later, Dec. 7, 1693, con- 
firming the acts of the people under it on every point. It is in Br. S. P. 0., 
New Eng., vol. viL and R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 493. 



518 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND, 

the legality of these acts, prevailed, and a renewal of the 
charter been applied for, it could not have been obtained 
with so liberal provisions as the old one, if at all ; and 
most probably Rhode Island would have met the fate of 
Plymouth, and been absorbed by Massachusetts under a 
general governor. 

The defective government of the last ten months called 
for legislative action. The Greueral Assembly was as yet 
unorganized, and the chief magistrate was doubtful of his 
powers, or shrank from tlie duties of his post. A meet- 
ing of the assembly had been called by Gov. Clarke, in 
October, the regular time appointed l)y charter; but a 
storm prevented the mainland towns from being repre- 
sented, and the governor himself had failed to attend. 
At length the Assembly convened for the first time for 

2G. nearly four years. The deputy governor, six assistants, 
the new recorder, chosen by the freemen in May, the gen- 
eral sergeant, and seventeen deputies, were present. The 
Assembly proceeded to fill the vacancies in their number. 
Absentees were sent for. The governor obeyed the sum- 
mons, but declined to retain his office. Christopher Almy 
was elected in his place, but he also declined. It was 

27. then that " all eyes turned to one of the old Antinomian 
exiles, the more than octogenarian, Henry Bull; and the 
fearless Quaker, true to the light within, emj^loyed the 
last glimmerings of life to restore the democratic charter 
of Rhode Island." ' Benedict Arnold, son of the late 
governor, was elected an assistant ; and Almy, wdio de- 
clined to be governor, consented to fill another vacancy in 
that body. Gov. Clarke refused to deliver the charter, 
and other official papers, to a committee of the Assembly 
appointed to receive them. He gave them leave to take 
it, but refused himself to open the chest in which it was 
kept. It is said that his extreme caution was only over- 
come by an order for the sheriff to arrest and confine him 

' Bancroft, chap. 17, vol. "2, p. 350. 



RESUMPTION OF THE CHAETER. 519 

in prison, upon which the required documents were handed chap. 

over, and placed in charge of Gov. Bull ; but it appears .^^^ 

from the records that he retained the charter till the an- If ^-^?- 
11- T 1 -, ^ • March 

nual election — two months later, and then gave it up, on 

a second demand, to the assembly. ' There was a policy 
in all this which was so apparent that Clarke never lost 
the confidence of the people. The funds of the colony 
were in the liands of Roger Holden, to be appropriated 
to building a colony house. He jiaid them over without i 
demur. A new seal "being the anchor, with the motto, 
Hope," was procured by the Assembly, in place of the one 
broken by Andros. The declaration of war between 
France and England was proclaimed. Col. Church was '^• 
at this time fighting the French and Indians, at the east- 
ward; and very soon the war was to be brought nearer 
home by the presence of a French fleet on our coast. 
The towns were put in a state of defence, and the French 
refugees in Narraganset were required to present them- 
selves to John Greene, at Warwick, and take the oath of 
allegiance to the British crown, required by the king, in 
consideration of which they were to remain undisturbed, 
behaving peaceably. 

At the next regular session of the Assembly, the day ^j.', ' 
previous to tlie annual election, all the members were 0. 
present. The charter was publicly read, as in former 
days, and the election proceeded wdth in usual form. De- 
clining years compelled Gov. Bull to refuse a re-election. 
The deputy governor was then chosen, but refused, per- 
haps from the same cause. John Eastou was then elected 
governor, and Major John Greene, deputy governor. The 
list of assistants was completed to ten, and the other gen- 
eral officers, and two majors, were chosen as heretofore. 

The first grand period of Rhode Island history, the 
formation period, was ended. The era of domestic strife 
and outward conflict for existence, of change and inter- 

' Foster papers, Bound vol. i. p. 337. 



.320 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND. 

i'HAi'. ruptiou, of doubt and gloom, anxiety and distress, liad 
S^^J^ almost passed. The problem of self-government was 
i 'j''^"'- solved, and a new era of independent action commenced, 
" t"" wliicli was to continue unbroken for an entire century, un- 
til lier separate sovereignty should be merged in the Amer- 
ican Union, by tlie adoption of tlie federal constitution ; 
and ber royal charter, the noble work of her republican 
founders, was never again to be interrupted, not even by 
the storm of revolution, until the lapse of more than a 
century and a half had made its provisions obsolete. 

The colony house, projected during the government of 
■ Andros, was now nearly completed, and received the name 
of the Town House. The governor, deputy governor, and 
assistants, on account of the expense attending their of- 
ficial duties, and their receiving no salary, were excused 
lor the future from paying any colony tax. Th(i war with 
the French and Indians rao;ed all alonor the northern fron- 
tier. Leisler, governor of Kew York, demanded assist- 
ance from all the colonies. Khode Island could not spare 
men, but voted a tax of three hundred pounds solely for 
this purpose. The effective force of New England at this 
time, as shown in a tabular -statement of the enrolled mi- 
litia, furnished by Sir Edmund Andros to the royal coun- 
cil, was over thirteen thousand men. Of these, eight 
hundred were in Ehode Island, exclusive of the eastern 
shore, which was included in Plymouth.' A fleet of seven 
sail of French privateers made a descent upon the coast. 



l:]. 



1 Tihodi' Idand, d-c. Khujs Province and Provide: nee PlitniaUon.^. 

(.'apt. Polhain, Newport, 1st Co. 104 Major Kichard Smith, 

('apt. Itoicers, do '.'il do 85 Major Ocn. Wintbrop, Providence, 175 

Capt. Arnold, Tortsmoiith, l(t5 Capt. Tones, Eo<diestcr, (Kingston,) 136 

(.'apt. Joseph Ariiohl, Jamestown, 34 Capt. Gorton, Warwick, 60 

Capt. Davoll, Fcversham, (Westerly,) 51) 

3'2S Capt. Weaver, Deptford, (Greenwich) 87 

Tliesij were under Major John Walley, 

with the Coimty of Bristol troop.s, number- 4G4 

ins 7S0. , , It would seem by this that the Provi- 

dence troops -svcro attached to a Connecti- 
cut division. 
Br. 8. P. 0., New Euf^., vol. v. p. 202. 



21. 



NAVAL VICTORY OVER THE FRENCH. 521 

captured Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, and Block Island, 
where they committed horrible excesses. Bonfires were 
lighted at Pawcatuck, and thence all along the shore, to 
arouse the country. A sloop with thirty-four men was 
at once sent out from Newport to reconnoitre. A portion 
of the enemy entered the harbor of Newport by night, to 14 
surprise the town ; but failing in this, they proceeded to 
attack New London, and were beaten off. Thence they 
landed at Fisher's Island, and burnt the only house upon 
it. There a small body of seventeen men, from Stoning- 
ton, surprised a party of them, and killed one Trimming, 
an English renegade, who had served as their decoy at the 
taking of Block Island. An expedition, consisting of two 
sloops with about ninety men, under command of Capt. 
Thomas Paine, was sent out from Newport to attack the 20 
enemy. Capt. John Grodfrcy was Paine's second. The 
next day they fell in with five French sail near Block Isl- 
and. Paine sent a few men on shore to prevent the enemy 
from landing, and ran his vessels into shallow water to 
avoid being surrounded. The French force numbered two 
hundred men, under one Pekar, a Frenchman who had 
sailed as a lieutenant with Capt. Paine, in privateering 
expeditions, some years before. At five o'clock in the af- 
ternoon the enemy came up with the intention of .board- 
ing, but was repulsed. A bloody action ensued for two 
hours and a half, till night separated the combatants. 
Pekar withdrew with the loss of nearly one-half his men, in 
killed and wounded. Paine's loss was only one man killed, 
and six wounded. The next day the French put to sea. 
Paine gave chase, and compelled them to sink a prize, 
loaded with wines and brandy, wliicli they had taken. 
The alarm caused by this bold assault, induced many 
persons to remove their property from Newport, to places 
of greater security. To Block Island this was but the 
commencement of a series of sufferings to which that ex- 
posed spot was subjected from foreign foes, as it had often 



29 



522 HISTORY or the state of RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, already been at tlie bands of tbe Indians. Tbe dangers 
\ii ^ 

ot tbe sea, and tbe sterner perils of war, united to pro- 

dnce a race of men wbose courage and bardibood cannot 
be surpassed. Tbe brilliant exploit of Paine at once in- 
spired tbe people of tbis colony witb a naval spirit. It 
was tbe first victory of Rbode Island on tbe open ocean, 
and tbe wortby Imrbinger of many daring deeds.' Tbree 
subsequent attempts uj)on Block Island wei^e made by 
tbe Frencb, during tbis war, as related by Niles. Tbe 
second was a nigbt attack : - tbe people were maltreated, 
and tbeir cattle carried off, l)ut no one was killed. Tbe 
next time tbe privateers were captured by tbe Nonsucb 
man-of-war ; " and on tbe fourtb, and last attack, tbe 
islanders tbemselves re])ulsed tbe marauders "in an open, 
pitcbed battle," after wbicli tbey were no longer molested 
by tbe Frencb. 
Q A great expedition consisting of tbirty-two vessels and 

about two tbousand men, under Sir William Pbipps, sailed 
from Boston for tbe concpiest of Canada, but were repulsed 
by Count Frontenac, before Quebec, and returned in dis- 
grace. To pay off tbe men, bills of credit were issued, tbe 
first paper money ever seen in New England, but unfor- 
tunately not tbe last, Frencb privateers covered tbe seas, 
plundering tbe comiuerce of tbe colonists and barassing 
p^pt^ tbe seaboard. In consequence of tbese troubles, a special 
I'j- session of tbe Assembly was called, to meet at Portsmoutb, 
to adopt stringent measures for raising tbe tax levied in 
tbe spring, and not yet collected. A tonnage duty of one 
sbilling, or of one pound of powder, per ton, was laid upon 
all vessels of more tban ten tons, belonging to otber colo- 
nics, tbat sbould break bulk in tbe barbor of Newport ; tbe 

' r>r. S. r. 0.. New EngLiud, vol. v. pp. 35G, 3G5. Niles' Hist, of Fr. find 
Ind. Wars in 3 M. H. C, vi. 268-74^, wliere many instances of the brutality of 
the French are given, to which Niles, a native of Block Island, was an eye- 
witness. 

" May 20, 1091. ^ In the summer of 1G03. 



SMALLPOX ON THE ISLAND. 52^ 

receipts to be applied to maintaining a powder magazine chap. 
for the use of the Island. The regular session was held at s^^:^ 
Providence at the house of John Whipple. The smallpox 10 9 0. 
had broken out with great violence upon the Island. The 29^ 
recorder and his family were ill with it, so that the read- 
ing of the charter, an indispensable prerequisite to legisla- 
tion, w^as omitted, no attested copy of it being at hand, and 
an entry was made of the reason for the omission. The 
whole afiairs of the colony were deranged by the prevailing 
sickness, and no business of general interest was transacted 
by the Assembly. So virulent was this formidable plague, 
for which no remedy or preventive was then known,' that i690-l 
a letter from Boston, w^ritten during this winter, says, *J^"- 
" Rhode Island is almost destroyed by the smallpox." - 
Newport was abandoned by the legislature for nearly a 
year. The general election was held at Portsmouth, "it 
being removed from Newport by reason of the distemper." 10 9 1 
No changes were made in the principal officers, and no im- q ^ 
portant business was done. The French again attacked 
Block Island in the night, but seem to have left before 
any force could be sent against them.^ The adjourned ^'^• 
session was opened at Portsmouth, and removed next day 
to Newport, whence we infer that the pestilence, which 
had ravaged that town for about ten months, had abated. 
An address to their Ma,jesties was adopted, but seems 
never to have reached its destination. The military sys- 
tem of the colony was revised, and the power placed in the 
hands of the two majors. The militia was divided into 
two regiments, one under each major, and courts mar- 

' The Christian world owes to the Turks one of the greatest discoveries in 
medical science. Inoculation was introduced into England by Lady Mary 
Wordey Montague, in 1721, who had learned it at Adrianople three years be- 
fore. Vaccination was discovered by Dr. Jenner in 1796, and made public in 
Enijland in 1799, whence it was brought to the United States by Dr. Waterhouse, 
the following year. 

- Mr. Lloyd's letter. Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. v. p. 3G2. 

^ Prince's collection. Letters and Papers, p. (jO, No. 3 in Mass. Hist. Soo. 



Jmie 



524 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

(jiiAP. tial were established, to consist of a majority of the com- 
'^r-'-' niissionecl officers of each regiment. An addition to the 
1 91. court-house at Newport, and also a turret, where the bell 
'27/ mi;2;ht be hung, were ordered. 

The records of the G-eneral Assembly from October 
1690 to July 1G95, except the fragment of a special ses- 
sion in August 1692, has^e disappeared from the files. A 
portion only has been found among the British archives, 
whither the whole were probably sent by Lord Bellemont. 
The history of the intervening period is derived chiefly 
from other records in the State Paper office at London, 
and from contemporaneous authorities at home. 
Q^j. Massachusetts and Plymouth were united under one 

7. charter, and the selection of their officers was left to their 
own agents, by whose recommendation Sir William Phipps, 
a native of Massachusetts, and tlicn an Assistant of that 
colony, was named as governor. By his commission he 
127 vv'as made commander-in-chief of all the land and naval 
forces of New England, each colony being separately named 
therein. This was an infringement upon the chartered 
rights of Connecticut and Rhode Island which at once oc- 
casioned trouble. Connecticut was placed in a still worse 
position, by a similar power over her militia being also 
conferred afterward upon Col. Fletcher, governor of New 
York. The charters of both these colonies were so differ- 
ent from any others, that constant blunders of this sort 
were made by the Home Government, and many of the 
complaints, joarticularly against the conduct of Rhode Isl- 
and, aj-e attributable to this source. The firmness with 
which she clung to the Mag-na Charta of her freedom, 
through trials of every kind, is surprising ; and that she 
was legally as well as morally right in the ever varying 
positions that she was compelled to assume, as the attacks 
made upon her changed in their character and objects, is 
obvious from the almost uniform decisions in her favor, 
whenever she was called to plead in her own defence. 



Dec 



1 G 9 2 



ATTEMPTS OF SIR WILLIAM I'HIPPS. 525 

Upon the arrival of Sir AVilliam Pliipps at Boston, chap. 
the venerable Governor Bradstreet resigned his office. ■^^^' 
This was the era of witchcraft in Massachusetts, but as 1 6 9 2. 
the infatuation never extended to the less gloomy people -^^^ ' 
of Rhode Island, we do not propose to discuss it. The of- 
fence appears on the statute book, but no prosecutions 
were ever had under it. The people of this colony had 
suffered too much from the superstitions and the priest- 
craft of the Puritans, readily to adopt their delusions, and 
there was no State clergy to stirimlate the whimsies of 
their parishioners. More important matters to them than 
the bedevilment of their neighbors engrossed their whole 
attention. 

A revival of difficulties between Ehodc Island and Con- 
necticut was threatened. The latter colony wrote to Gov. ^n 
Easton that some persons at Pawcatuck had appealed to 
them for the protection of their lavs'S, and suggested that, 
for peace' sake, Ehode Island would consent, under these 
circumstances, that the re(^uest of the petitioners should be 
granted, until further orders were received from England. 
It was an amicable letter, far different in tone from the 
correspondence in former years on the same subject. Gov. 
Easton replied in a similar spirit, but maintained the claim 
of Ehode Island to the bank of the river, and that a sub- '-|g^*" 
mission to another government, by the people in question, 
could not convey the right of jurisdiction. 

Meanwhile Governor Phipps wrote to Ehode Island re- -• 
quiring the militia of the colony to be placed under him, 
by the terms of his commission, and that an account of 
their numbers and condition should be sent to him. The 
deputy governor, Major Greene, and one assistant went to 
Boston upon this business, and also to secure the establish- 
ment of a post-office in the colony. They were detained 
five days before they could obtain a hearing, and then re- 
ceived no satisfactory reply ; nor was any letter sent by 
Phipps to Gov. Easton, as was promised, but soon after- 



526 HISTOKY OF THE STATE OF RHODE Ii^LAND. 

(iHAP. wards several commissions were sent to Major Sandford, 
J_^_^ to be distributed among the militia officers, displacing 
1 G 9 2. most of tbose already in commission. The Assembly was 
" 2^* convened, and ordered that the present officers should re- 
tain their posts, and hold their companies ready for defence. 
In the towns that had neglected to choose military officers 
at the spring election, the former officers were reappoint- 
ed. An address to their Majesties was adopted, stating 
the .facts of the case, suggesting that the conduct of 
Phipps was stimulated by private interests — some of his 
counsellors, by whose acts the settlement of Narraganset 
was thereby impeded, being members of the Atherton 
company™ and praying that the charter limits of the col- 
ony might be confirmed to them, in accordance with for- 
mer decisions. An attempt to run the lines of the colony 
was forbidden by Governor Phipps, whereupon the As- 
oo " sembly again met, and commissioned Christopher Almy to 
take another letter to their Majesties, enforcing the prayer 
of the address, with a plat of the colony, and the reasons 
for the petition. 

Governor Phijips was equally foiled, in his attempt 
upon the militia of Connecticut, and being a very passion- 
ate man he nearly involved himself in a quarrel with Col. 
Fletcher of New York, who also endeavored, by virtue of 
his commission, to control the troops of Connecticut ; but 
both were alike thwarted by the firmness of Gov. Treat. 
1G92 3. During the winter, 8ir William, for the first time, came to 
Rhode Island, and read his commission to Gov, Easton in 
the presence of witnesses. The governor replied, that 
when the Assembly met, if tliey had any thing farther to 
say, he would write. There was little satisfaction in. this 
cavalier reception, which oftsct Phipps' treatment of Rhode 
Island, and still less in the ultimate result ; but with such 
as it was Sir AVilliam declared himself contented, and went 
home. 

The war between England and Prance continued 



POST ROUTES ESTABLISHED. 527 

with great violence. Louis XIV. invaded England, in be- 
half of James the Pretender, and maintained a strong 
force in Canada, which threatened the conquest of British 1692-3. 

A 1 3 V(*\ 1 

America. Orders were issued from Whitehall for all the o 
colonics to send aid, in men or money, to the governor of 
New York, for the relief of Albany, then a frontier fort of 
the English. 

The first postal arrangements in the United States 1C9 3. 
were now adopted in the council of Massachusetts. The 
right to establish post routes in America had been granted 
for a term of twenty-one years, by royal patent, to Thomas 
Neale,' who deputed Andrew Hamelton to carry out the 
design. By him the plan was presented to the govern- ^^;^r^^' 
ment of Massachusetts to establish a weekly mail from 
Boston to Virginia. The rate of postage for all foreign 
letters was fixed at twopence a letter. Inland letters^ 
paid, from Boston to Ehode Island, sixpence for each sin- 
gle letter, and proportionately for a package, which could 
not count less than three letters, ninepence to Connecticut, 
a shilling to New York, fifteen pence to Pennsylvania, and 
two shillings to Maryland and Virginia, with one penny 
for delivery at the house after any letter had lain two .June 
days in the post-offtce uncalled for. The act was passed ^■ 
by the representatives, and concurred in by the council. 

Almy, the Rhode Island agent, became impatient at 
the delays that detained him in London, and petitioned 
that the address which he had brought might be read by Aug. 
the royal council. This was done and the subject referred, " ' 
as usual, to the Board of Trade, who in turn submitted the j^^^ 
address to the attorney general for his opinion upon the 15. 
validity of the charter, and the right to control the militia 
against the demand of Phipps, and to have their eastern 
boundary explained. The decision was rendered in favor 
of Rhode Island upon every point. "I see nothing in 
point of law but that their Majesties may gratify the pe- 

'Feb. 17, 1691-2. 



528 HISTOKY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, titioners, and confirm tlieir cliarter, and explain the east- 
^i^ cm boundaries as is desired," is the. conclusion of this im- 
1 G 9 u. portaut paper, which virtually crushed the hopes of the 
royalist faction in Ehode Island, and cooled the ardor of 
25. her ambitious neighbors, lileanwhile the General Assem- 
bly sent another address to their Majesties, assigning the 
• exposed situation of the colony, as shown by the late at- 
tacks upon Block Island, as the reason for their not send- 
ing aid to Albany.' 
i(;i).'!-i. The Board of Trade submittetl further questions to 

' o ■ the attorney general upon the charters of Connecticut and 
Rhode Island, and the Jersey grants, how the strength of 
the Avhole might be united under one Commander-in-chief 
1 G9 4. ^o operate against the French. His opinion sustained the 
' position vv'hich he liad before taken, that these colonies 
had the exclusive control over their militia in times of 
peace, but added, that in case of war, if necessary for the 
common defence, a chief commander might order out a re- 
quisite number of troops, with the aid and assistance of 
the governor, leaving enough at home to secure the safety 
.,| of each colony. The Board of Trade having reported this 
opinion to the royal council, an order was issued fixing the 
Aug. quota of troops to be furnished by Ehode Island, for ser- 
vice under the governor of Nevf York, at forty-eight men, 
and also referring the boundary dispute to the members 
, of the council of New York. The Queen forthwith sent 
121. her commands to Gov. Phi^Dps, limiting his control 
over the mihtia of Rhode Island, in accordance with the 
report, and requiring him to furnish three hundred and 

' All the foregoing dociimeiits rcfcvrcd to arc in Br. S. P. 0., New England, 
vol. vii., and are mostly inserted in II. I. Col. Rec., iii. 288-295. Tlie admi- 
rable mode in wliicb these Records are comijiled, Ly supplying deficiencies in 
the existing files, and inserting explanatory documents obtained from other 
sources, iu order to present a documentary history of the State as complete as 
possible, places the Rhode Island Colonial Records before any other State col- 
lection we have seen, and reflects great credit upon the industry and ability 
of the lion. John R. Bartlett, Secretary of State, by whom they were prepared. 



EASTERN BOUNDARY QUESTION. 529 

fifty men from Massachusetts for the defence of Alhany. chap. 
Similar orders were sent to Ehode Ishxnd and Connecti- Ji^!_ 
cut. The quota of the latter was fixed at one hundred 10 9 4. 
and twenty men.' ^ '^^ 

The boundary question had been much discussed pre- 
vious to this order of council. The new charter of New 
England, by absorbing Plymouth, had bounded Rhode 
Island on the cast as Avell as the north by Massachusetts. 
The old conflict for the eastern shore was therefore to be 
continued with a new and more formidable opponent. 
Almy wrote to the Duke of Leeds, President of the Privy 15. 
Council, ashing his special attention to the eastern bound- 
ary of the colony, and supplying the evidence to sustain 
the claim of Ehode Island. The Massachusetts agents 
petitioned the Board of Trade - for a hearing upon this 
point before the question should be decided. The point 
was referred to the attorney general, whose action was 
hastened by a notice from the Board that they were wait- ' j^. 
ing his report. While he was preparing it, tlie Earl of 
Arran presented the great claim of the Hamilton family 2s. 
to the attorney general, as including a part of Rhode Island, 
but it was for the present tlirown out. The opinion re- ", -^ 
cited in detail the charter bounds of Rhode Island, the 
Plymouth grant, and the decision of Sir Robert Carr, and 
suggested a reference to disinterested parties near the spot 
as the only mode of determining the dispute. Upon re- 
ceipt of this report, the agents were summoned to attend a 
meeting of the Board to consider this boundary question. 
Mr. Almy petitioned that no Connecticut man should be 
placed upon the commission, as the dispute with that col- 

'Br. S. P. 0, New England, vol. xxxv., pp. 152, IG.",, 170. R. I. Col. 
Rec, iii. 295-9. 

" The oiRcial title of this body was " the Eight Honorable the Lords of the 
Committee of Trade and Plantations." A little later than this time they were 
known as the "Board of Trade," by which name we style them in the text, 
for brevity. All the colonial documents in the Briti.«h archiv,';; a-o marked 
B. T., as plantation affairs were their peculiar province. 

VOL. I.— 3-4 



i>30 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, ony ill regard to the western line still existed. The at- 

S-r-^ torney general prepared tlie draft of a commission to tlic 

10 9 4. arbitrators, wliicli was approved by the Board, and the 

' -2^' next day, when the order upon the militia was issned, as 

before stated, this draft was attached to it to be filled by 

the names of the New York conncih 

■ The acts of trade were so generally disregarded in the 
colonies as to form the subject of frequent remonstrance by 
the home government. Rhode Island came in for her 
share of rebuke, although at first she was more loyal upon 
this point than either New England or New York. In 
reply to a circular from the Board of Trade, issued a year 
^p ^^ before. Governor Easton Avrote that the collector, Jahleel 
ci. Brenton, would shortly be in England, and would represent 
the fact that for want of proper forts in the bay it was dif- 
ficult to enforce the navigation laws. 

The friendly feeling between Rhode Island and Con- 
necticut at this time was satisfactory to l)oth parties, and 
could not easily he disturljed, although occasions were not 
wanting to renew the strife. There was a border conflict 
June between Westerly and Stonington. Some persons in the 
latter town attempted to assess a tax upon the former, 
which was resisted, and a complaint was made by the gov- 
ernor of Rhode Island to the authorities of Connecticut on 
Oct. the subject, to which the latter replied, disowning the act 
^^^'- of the intruders, and expressing a hope that no disturbance 
would be created by any act of Rhode Island west of the 
Pawcatuck river. So far as it went, this was a virtual 
concession of the points in dispute, in favor of Rhode Isl- 
y C 9 5_ and. But the Narragauset proprietors, as they still styled 

■M-iy- themselves, were not satisfied with this tacit aOT-eement 
22 . . . 

which subjected them to Rhode Island, and petitioned to 

have the question settled. It was referred to the attorney 
general, with whom it rested for more than a year. 
i[ay. At the general election Caleb Carr w^as chosen gover- 

nor, and John Greene was re-elected deputy governor 



MODE OF LAYING TAXES. 531 

The great break in the records does not cease till the ad- chap. 
jonrned session of the Assembly at Newport, when they ^^i_ 
again appear complete. The old tax of three hundred 1095. 
pounds was still uncollected. An additional rate of two -^ 
pence on the pound was laid, and a more exact mode of o 
assessment than had heretofore been used was adopted, by 
appointing three men in each town to examine the proper- 
ty of every citizen, and estimate his income. Formerly 
the rates were laid by guess work, both by the Assembly 
in apportioning a tax among the towns, and by the coun- 
cils in assessing the inhabitants. 

Complaint having been made that the Colony House 
was used for other purposes than that for which it was 
built, it was ordered that it should be occupied only for 
legislative or military affairs, and for no religious objects 
whatever. Committees were appointed to run the eastern 
and northern lines of the colony. 

Governor Fletcher had written to demand the quota 
of troops assigned to Rhode Island for the defence of New 
York, to which Governor Carr replied that either the forty- 5. 
eight men required, or some commutation should be sent, 
according as Fletcher himself might elect.' 

From the death of Sir William Phipps to the appoint- 
ment of the Earl of Bellemont several months elapsed, 
during which Lieut. Governor Stoughton was at the head 
of affairs in Massachusetts. A proposal was made by the lo. 
Lords Justices to recall Fletcher, and to unite, under Belle- 
mont, the governments of New England and New York, 
as in the time of Andros, when all of the American colonies 
north of Pennsylvania were known by the name of New 
England. But more than three years elapsed before the 
plan was perfected by the arrival of Bellemont at New 
York ; meanwhile the two governments continued under 
their present rulers. 

Stoughton refused to have the lines run between Mas- 

' K Y. Col. Mss. si. 30. II. I. Col. Rec, iii. 303. 



532 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

sacliusetts and Rhode Island, witliout whicli the quota of 
troops for Nevv York could not he drafted fliirly. Fletcher 
refused commutation and demanded the men ; whereupon 
the Ehode Island council wrote to him, assii^rnins; reasons 
why they could not send the men. Some further corre- 
spondence ensued, when the subject dropped. The Assem- 
bly met at Warwick. The houndaty between Kingston 
and Westerly was settled. A prison was ordered to be 

l?^ ' built at Providence. A tax of a penny on a pound was 
laid, to raise the sum of one hundred pounds for the agent 
in England. Salaries had occasionally been paid to the 
civil ofiicers, but most of the time public service had been 
performed gratuitously. It was now enacted that the 
governor should have ten pounds a year, the deputy gover- 
Xov. nor six pounds, the assistants four pounds each, and the 

-• deputies three shillings a day while in session, or to pay 

a double forfeit when absent. 
j)^.(. Governor Carr died in December, being the third gov- 

1~- ernor of the colony who died while in oflEice ; and Walter 

Clarke, wdio was governor when the charter was suspended, 

w.r.- n ^vas ao'ain chosen to that oflice, probably at an extra ses- 
i(>;)o-o. ^ "^ ^ ' ^ *^ , 

Jau. sion of the Assembly in January, of which no record re- 
mjiins. Nearly seven years had elapsed since the resump- 
tion of the charter ; the government had acquired the 
confidence of all classes, so that Clarke and Newberry, the 
assistant, who had refused office after the fall of Andros, 
now cheerfully accepted their former places. 

Feb. The Popish plot to assassinate William III. having 

l''^- been revealed by some of the conspirators, stringent meas- 

,, , ures were taken against the Roman Catholics. All ships 
March ^ . ° , ^ , ^ ^ 

10. bound to America were embargoed, and letters Vv'cre sent 

to the colonies informing them of the circumstances. The 

■^5' \.','' activity of the French, in their operations against America, 

20. alarmed England, so that farther orders were issued, and 

aid promised, to prepare for invasion. Associations were 

formed throuorhout Enoland bindino; the subscribers to 



ASSEMBLY DIVIDED INTO TWO BRANCHES. 533 

support the King, and to revenge any violence offered to chap. 
his person. Kotice of this was also sent to the colonies, ^i_, 
with a form " proper to be entered into " as a mark of loy- l <j') O- 
alty to his Majesty. ' "^^'"^ 

Governor Fletcher wrote to Grovernor Clarke for the 04. 
Kliode Island quota which liad been refused by his prede- 
cessor. He rebuked the neglect of the colony, adding that 
her letters of excuse had been sent to England as wit- 
nesses against her. This letter was laid before the As- P' 
sembly, and a reply returned that the exposed condition 
of the colony, with forty miles of coast line, having three 
inlets from the sea, undefended by forts, required all its 
strength for self-protection ; that the letters of excuse 
referred to by Fletcher, had already been sent by Khode 
Island to the home government ; and that she did not 
fear the result, as his Majesty would not require impossi- 
bilities.^ 

A very important movement, proposed by the deputies 
from Warwick thirty years before, ^ was now adojited. The 
house of deputies was constituted a distinct body, a lower 
house of assembly, with power to choose their own Speaker 
and Clerk. It thus became a coordinate branch of the 
legislature, with the assistants, each house having a veto 
upon the proceedings of the other ; and thus has it ever 
since remained. The first instance of the deputies resolv- 
ing themselves into a committee of the whole for the prep- 
aration of business occurred at this session. The practice 
was introduced three years later into the council board of 
Massachusetts by Lord Bellemont, and was of English 
origin, but has never been much used in this State. 

Upon receipt of the royal orders relative to the Popish j^^^^^ 
plot they were published in solemn manner, with great pa- 8. 
rade and joy, throughout the colony. A letter of congrat- 

' Smollet, B. i. chap. v. § 30. Autiq. of Conn., 233. 
- N. Y. Docs., iv. in.5-G. 11. I. Col. Rec, iii. 315-16. 
^ Aute, chap. ix. p. 327. 



534 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, ulation was prepared by the council, promising vigilance 
' ■ in securing the conspirators should they appear in Ehode 
Island. 

There was always great difficulty in collecting taxes 
in the colony. The people were poor, and their situation 
the most exposed of any in New England, while the vexa- 
tious proceedings of their neighbors not only kept them at 
great expense, from the very beginning, to maintain agents 
in London, but also furnished a constant pretext for re- 
fusal to pay by those who denied their jurisdiction. Not 
unfrequently many years would elapse after a tax was 
voted before it could be collected, and in view of the per- 
plexities arising from these sources it is often a matter of 
surprise that a tax could be collected at aU. Special ses- 
sions of assembly were repeatedly called on this account. 

1. One was now convened for this purpose ; and to increase 
the revenue, a duty was laid upon all foreign wines, liipiors, 
and molasses imported into the colony. The latter article 
was to pay a half penny a gallon. Privateers fitted out 
from hero liad been engaged in illegal acts, to prevent 
which it was ordered that no new commission should be 
granted without a bond of one thousand pounds not to ex- 
ceed the powers therein conferred. Wolves continued to 
trouble the plantations to such an extent that a bounty of 
ten shillings was offered fur each old one that should be 
killed. 
Sept. The governor and council of Connecticut entered into 

2- an association, in the form adopted in England, for the de- 
fence of the King against all conspirators, but we find no 
^^ trace of any such act in this colony. The attorney gen- 
28. eral of England, after more than a year's delay, reported 
upon the Narraganset proprietors' petition, that the juris- 
diction belonged to Connecticut by reason of the priority 
of her charter. This was the first opinion adverse to the 
claims of Ehode Island, if avc except the ex parte report 
of the Cranfield commission, and seems to have been hast- 



ADMIRALTY COURTS IN THE COLONIES. 535 

ily drawn. About the same time tlie proj^rietors, probabl)^ chai'. 
weary of tlie delay, sent another petition asking to be join- j!^^ 
cd to Massachusetts. To this Major General AVinthrop 169G. 
sent a counter petition, in behalf of Connecticut, to "in- 98. 
sist on and claim the government of the said country." ' 
Meanwhile Almy returned home, and on the same day 
that the attorney general's opinion was rendered against 
tlie colony, in England, he received from the Assembly, 
sitting at Providence, something over a hundred and thirty- 
five pounds for his expenses as agent. 

The unsettled state of the eastern shore produced sim- 
ilar annoyances with those that had occurred in Westerly. 
The Massachusetts officers, having distrained for taxes in 
Tiverton, were seized and placed under bonds at Newport. Nov. 
Complaints of these seizures were made to Stoughton from ^*^- 
Bristol and Little Compton, and a vote was passed by the ,,, 
representatives for the lieutenant-governor to protect the 
officers from the violence of Rhode Island. 

An important step was now prepared in England to 
restrain the irregulaiities existing in America, with respect 
to privateering and to the acts of Trade, by establishing 
courts of admiralty in all the colonies. The legality of 21. 
the measure was submitted to the attorney general, who, 
on examining all the old charters and grants in America, ^ ' 
gave as his opinion that they contained nothing which 
could restrain the King in his design.'^ 

There were two parties in the colonies upon the f[ucs- iGOti-z. 
tion of uniting all the governments under a viceroy. '2. 
Many in Massachusetts urged it in frequent letters to in- 
fluential persons in England. They complained of the 
small independencies, Ncav Hampshire and Rhode Island, 
and denounced the latter as a great resort for privateers, 
which its commodious bay facilitated. The New York in- 

' Originals of the three papers last referred to are iu Br. S. P. 0., New Eiig., 
vol. viii., as are most of the foregoing authorities not cited in the notes. 
^ Br. S. P. 0. Proprieties, vol. i. p. G5. 



536 HISTOEY OF THE STATE OF IlIIODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, terost Opposed tlie union, unless limited to strictly miKtaiy 

' ' purposes, on the grounds that the people were too dissim- 
ilar, and that the rivalry in trade between New York, the 
less, and Boston, the greater, would ruin the former. A 

<). circular was sent to all the colonies by the Board of Trade 
concerning their irregularities in not furnishing the re- 
(juired quotas against the French, in harboring each other's 
fugitives, and especially in giving countenance to piracy, 
which had naturally grown out of the system of privateer- 
ing, so long maintained during the war with France.^ 
The independent positions of Connecticut and Ehode Isl- 
and made them a hindrance to the establishment of any 
general system of government in New England, or to the 
enforcement of acts intended to apply equally to all the 
colonies. Hence another attempt was to be made to re- 
strain them, and the attorney general was directed to ex- 

25. amine their charters with special reference to this design. 
The long-pending appointment of the Earl of Bellemont 
March ^^ governor of New York, Massachusetts, and New Hamp- 
shire, and as captain-general of the forces of Rhode Island, 
Connecticut, and the Jerseys, was at last announced. 
His coming was to open a new struggle in Rhode Island. 

03 At an adjourned session of the Assembly, held at 

Ne\\})ort, Pawtuxet river was established as the southern 
limit of Providence. Deputy governor Greene and the 
Warvv'ick deputies protested, but to no effect, against this 
act, Avhich terminated a struggle that had lasted for half 
a century between Warwick and Pawtuxet, and had form- 
ed one of the great points of dispute in the Harris trials 
twenty years before. 
1G07. The entire records for the following year are missing, 

but the British archives supply the more important events. 
Although the long war with France was- drawing to a 
close, there was as yet no cessation of hostilities in Amer- 

' Br. S. P. 0. Proprieties, vol. xxv. p. 42. Autiq. of Conn., 245. R. I. Col. 
Rec, iii. 321. 



THE HAMILTON CLAIM DECIDED, 537 

ica. Massachusetts applied to Connecticut and Rhode ^jiy. 
Island for aid in men, money, and provisions, against the ■^^^• 
common enemy, and appointed Capt. Byfield of Bristol to 10 9 7. 
obtain the same. 

Town records throw very little light upon the general 
history of the State after the government became settled 
under the second charter, but occasionally they afford cu- 
rious hints of the condition of society, or of matters affect- 
ing the prosperity of the people. An agricultural popu- 
lation will feel most sensibly those things that affect their 
stock or their crops ; hence the frequent notice of \volves 
and the lesser vermin, which became so troublesome as to 
require State legislation. A new torment was added to .... 
these, for we find that in Portsmouth, every householder 16. 
was required to kill twelve blackbirds before the tenth of 
jMay ensuing, and to bring in their heads, or pay a fine of 
two shillings, and for all above twelve that were Idlled be 
should receive one shilhng each.' 

Again the Hamilton claim came up, on petition of -3- 
the daughter of the late duke, to be confirmed in her 
right to Narraganset, and to receive quit-rent from the 
occupants. The case was fully stated, from the time of 
the original grant by James I., down through all its sub- 
sequent stages, to the report of Andros upon it. Jahleel 
Brent on was asked by the Board of Trade, what argu- 
ments Rhode Island had to urge against its validity. The 
Board were resolved to have a careful examination of this 
matter, which should be final. Rhode Island did not sup- 
pose the claim would ever bo revived, and hence had 
given Brenton no instructions upon it. He so stated in 30. 
his memorial, and asked that a copy of the duchess' pe- 
tition might be sent to Rhode Island. The Connecticut 
agent, Winthrop, was equally unprepared upon this ques- 
tion, and made a similar request in behalf of the proprietors, .July 
of whom he was one. Somewhat later, Sir Henry Ash- 

' Portsmouth records, end of vol. i., April IG, 1697. 



538 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP. Hrst replied to the same effect, on the part of Massachu- 
J^..^^^ setts. But the Earl of Arran insisted on a reiKirt ; and 
16 9 7. although ex 2)nrte, as the opposing claimants could not be 
lo;' heard, it Avas so adverse to the petitioners as to be, in ef- 
fect, final. This document was of formidable length, 
and chiefly historical. It recited a decision of the Lords 
and Justices npon a parallel case, that "the parties have 
recourse to the Courts upon the place," and recommended 
that the petition should not be granted, as it would es- 
tablish a precedent fraught with disturl;)ance to every land 
title in. America. The report was ef[uivalcnt to a legal 
decision, so that Rhode Island was forever relieved from 
this source of vexation.' 
April The acts of trade were not so easily disposed of A 

royal letter called attention to their abuses in the several 
colonies, and threatened a withdrawal of charters if these 
Avere continued,- 

The alarm in which the colonists Avere kept by the 
sudden and f're(|uent incursions of the Indians, can scarce- 
ly be imagined in our day. The councils of war, com- 
posed of the local magistrates, Avere as active at tliis time 
as they had ever been since the settlement of the State. 
An o]iginal Avarrant, of this date, with the council seals 
attached, is still extant, directed to twenty-one of the 
principal inhabitants of Providence, as commanders of 
scouting parties, composed of ten men each, Avho Avere to 
range the country in pursuit of '"' the cruel and barbarous 
Indians," beyond the limits of the ]3lantations, for tAvo 
days at a time ; and each leader, on his return, was to 
hand the commission to the one Avliose name Avas next in 
order upon it. This was continued long after the treaty 
of EysAvick had restored i:)eace to Europe. 

The hasty opinion of the attorney general in favor of 

^ Br. S. r. 0., l\cw Eiiylaiid, vol. xxxvi. p. 2i!L'. The other papers above 
referred to are in vol. viii. 

- Br. S. r. 0., New Enghmd, vol. xxxvi. p. 159. R. I. Col. Rcc , iii. 22G. 



24. 



COURT OF ADMIRALTY RESISTED BY CLARKE. 539 

the Connecticut claim to Narraganset, given in October, ciiai\ 

did not escape the keen eye of Brenton, wlio presented a J^^,^^ 

memorial to the Board of Trade, pointing ont the errors 1 *J ^^ "• 

therein, that they might he advised of tlie fiicts before 15." 

acting upon it. Letters were sent to both colonics, ad- 

... Au"", 

vismg an adjustment by mutual agreement, or by refer- oct 

ence to Lord Bellemont, or otherwise to send agents to 
England early in the Spring.' Sept. 
The treaty of Kyswick restored peace to all Europe. ^^' 
A printed proclamation was issued in England, and sent Oct. 
out to America, with orders to suspend all privateering 
against the French, It reached New England in Decem- 
ber, where it was published in due form. Mr. Brenton ^*^,^- 

24. 

returned to Rhode Island, with all the letters and pa- ,„^^ 

p 1 -n • • 1 1697-8. 

pers from the British government, above referred to, and Jan. 
delivered them to the General Assembly, at a special ses- ^^^ 
sion held in Newport. He was empowered to administer 
to the governor the oath required by the acts of trade, 
which Clarke, being a Quaker, steadily refused to take. 
The creation of a Court of Admiralty in Rhode Island, i7_2i. 
was a further source of discontent to the governor. 
Brenton brought over a commission to Peleg Sandford, as 
Judge of Admiralty, and to Nathaniel Coddington, as 
Register, which Sandford presented to Gov. Clarke, who 
endeavored to persuade the Assembly to oppose it, but 
without success. He then kept the commission from 
Sandford, who complained to the Board of Trade of his 
conduct. A similar complaint was also addressed to the 01 
King. Brenton forwarded these letters to the Board, and 
advised the impeachment of Clarke, as a warning to oth- iinYi.]^ 
ers. He also urged that the government of Rhode Isl- S- 
and should be required to print their laws, which as yet 
had never been done.^ These perplexities, no doubt. 

' Br. S. P. O., New England, vol. xxv. p. 100. Antiq. of Conn., 259. 
R. I. Col. Reo., iii. 328. 

- Br. S. P. 0. Proprieties, vol ii. pp. 445-7-9. R. I. Col. Rec., iii. 329-31. 



4. 



540 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, caused the resignation of Gov. Clarke, at this time, in 
^^ favor of liis nephew, Saimiel Cranston, who, it appears, 

1 6 9S. presided as governor at the spring term of the Court of 

Mav m • 1 

Trials. 

The administration of Gov. Cranston is remarkable 
for many reasons. He lield his position probably longer 
than any other man who has ever been subjected to the 
test of an annual popular election. He was thirty times 
successively chosen governor, holding office till his death, 
in 1726. His great firmness in seasons of unesampletl 
trial, that occurred in the early part of his pul)lic life, is, 
perhaps, the key to his wonderful popularity, of whicli we 
shall find some signal proofs later in his career. The 
choice of the Assembly was confirmed by the people at the 
election : and lie was also retained in his military otfice 
of major, for the islands. John Greene was re-elected 
deputy governor. A majority of the civil officers chosen 
at this time, held military commissions. The Quaker 
regime expired with Gov. Clarke, The government passed 
into the hands of men whose scruples would not imperil 
the existence of the State, at a time when firmness was 
as much required as caution, in resisting the aggressions 
attempted by the royal governors of Massachusetts. 

The sul)ject of weights and measures, which twenty- 
four years previously had received the attention of the 
Assembly, was again discussed. Want of imiformity in 
these particulars, injured trade. To remedy this, a sealer 
for the colony was appointed, with orders to procure stand- 
ard weights and measures in Boston, whose duty it should 
be to seal, with an anchor, all sucli articles used in New- 
port ; and to furnish the other sealers, one of whicli was 
to be chosen in each town, with accurate models. Any 
town failing to appoint a sealer, was to be indicted at the 
Court of Trials. 

Piracy now prevailed to an alarming extent. Priva- 
teers, clearino; for Madao-ascar and the Red Sea on tradinsc 



Mav 
4-." 



STATUTE AGAINST PIRACY. 541 

voyages^ with roving commissions against the Frencli, had chap. 
hocome open pirates after the peace. All New England ..3^ 
and New York, as well as the West India Islands, were 1 6^9 8 
deeply involved in these unlawful enterprises. The home 
government sent orders to repress them. The Khode Isl- 
and Assemhly accordingly passed a law, requiring their 
officers to seize any suspected person, who should bring 
foreign coin or merchandise into the colony, and that he 
should be held for trial, unless he could produce satisfac- 
tory evidence to the magistrates how he came by the 
treasure. A proclamation was also issued, in obedience to 
the royal order, and published by drum beat in every town, 
requiring the officers to arrest any suspected pirates, and 
warning the people not to harbor any such, or to receive 
their goods, on pain of punishment as abettors. An ad- 
dress to the King was prejiiared, in which the remissness 
of the colony in respect to the acts of trade, is confessed, 
and their statute on the subject of piracy is mentioned. 
Their assumption of admiralty jurisdiction during the late 
war, is also admitted, and defended on the cTound of ex- 

7 7 O 

pediency — there being a necessity for ann,o}ing French 
commerce, and no admiralty Court then established in 
the colony — and finally, a continuation of the royal favor, 
in the language of the charter, is earnestly sought. These 
papers were all enclosed in a letter from Gov. Cranston to 
the Board of Trade, apologizing for the irregularities of 
the colony in refusing the quota of troops for New York, 
and explaining the charges against it in regard to piracy. 
He also stated that two men suspected of piracy had just 
been examined, and would be brought to trial.' A bitter 
letter against the government of the colony was soon after 
written by that old enemy of New England, Kandol[)]i, ?,o 
the surveyor general of customs, who had just been to 
New York to welcome the arrival of Lord Bellemout. 

' The originals of these four p;ipers arc in Br. S. P. 0., Proprieties, vol. ii. 
pp. 543-5-7. America and West Indies, vol. 370. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 33G-8. 



30, 



542 HLSTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAXD. 

The eliarges made against the rulers were most serious, as 
that they were in league with the pirates, by whom they 
1 98. were enriched ; and equally false was the statement that 
many of the people desired a I'oyal governor, and would pay 
five hundred pounds a year towards the support of one.' 
Depositions against the deputy governor, for having issued 
privateer commissions, four years before, when Gov. Eas- 
4. ton had refused to grant them, were ol)tained, and for- 
warded in confirmation of these charges ; and Mr. Bren- 
ton advised the Board of Trade to call for copies of all 
such commissions and l)onds as had been granted during 
the late war, some of them being, in his view, illegal.'^ 

In compliance with the orders of the home govern- 
ment, commissioners were appointed by Rhode Island and 
Connecticut to adjust the boundary between these colo- 
nies. They met at Stonington, but to no purpose. Each 
claimed all Narraganset, as heretofore. The negotiation 
Avas held in writing, as it liad formerly been, and with the 
■^"c- same result. The lihode Island Assembly met, for the 
lirst time, at Kingstown, and voted a tax of eiglit hundred 
pounds, currency, of which Newport was to pay two hun- 
dred and twenty-five pounds; Portsmouth, one hundred 
and forty; Providence, one hundred and twenty-eight ; 
Kingstown, one hundred and twenty -five ; Warwick and 
Westerly, forty-six pounds each; Jamestown, thirty-eight; 
Grreenwich, thirty, and New ►Shoreliam twenty-two pounds. 
A tax law in twelve sections, the most comjDlete that had 
yet been framed, was passed for its collection, providing 
for the first time for a p(jll tax upon all males between 
sixteen and sixty years of age, of whom a census was to 
be taken, as well as an account of their estates; and each 
man, except slaves and the like, was to pay one shilling 
a bead. Provision was made for the reception of Lord 
Bellemout, who was expected soon from New York, on his 

' P.r. S. P. 0., Plantations General, vol. v. c. 17. P. I. Col. Pec, iii. 339. 
- Br S. P. 0., Proprieties, vol. ii. pp. 581-3. 



PIRATES AND PRIVATEERS. CAPT. KIDD. 543 

way to Boston. The governor's salary was increased to chap. 
thirty pounds. A committee was named to prepare a di- ''^^^' 
gest of the laws, to send to England, as refj[uired, and an- 16 98. 
other to present the case of the western boundary to Lord ^ ' 
Bellemont.' 

The next regular session was held at Providence, -ZG. 
AVant of uniformity in the size of casks and barrels, in 
which provisions were packed, led to the adoption of a 
standard gauge for the various sizes, and the appointment 
of gangers in each town, with penalties for any violation 
of such standard. 

Further letters were sent by the Board of Trade to 
the colonies, at this time, on the subject of piracy. The 25. 
one to this colony, following the suggestion of Mr. Bren- 
ton, required copies of all jjrivateering papers to lie sent 
home, with an account of the trials of Munday and Cut- 
ler, who had been arrested for exceeding the powers grant- 
ed in their commissions. The letters to the other colonies 
were equally specific on the same subject," and were fol- 
lowed by instructions to the custom house oflicers how to ^^q^' 
conduct their business ; and soon after by an order from 
the British Cabinet to the governors of all the colonies, to 23. 
apprehend the notorious Capt. Kidd, should he appear in 
their waters.-' 

' A letter from the R. I. commissioners to those of Conn., dated Kingritowu, 
Dec. 8, 1098, proposing a reference of the dispute to tlie Earl of Bellemont, as 
their negotiations had proved fruitless, is in Trumbull papers, vol. xxii. No. 

1 .->!'. 

- Br. S. P. 0., Proprieties, vol. xxv. p. 253. Antiq. of Conn., 2GG. R. I. 
Col. Rec., iii. oil. 

' Autiq. of Couu. 2GS-7I. Kidd was of English birth, and a bold privateer 
during the wiir with France. The governor of Barbadoes induced William III. 
to give Kidd a commission to act against the pirates who then infested every 
sea. He received the title of Admiral, Dec. 11, lGi)5, and soon after sailed 
with SO men in a government ship of 30 guns, to New York, where he doubled 
his crew, and went to the Red Sea. There he commenced his acts of ijiiacy, 
and became the terror of his countrymen. A fleet was sent to the East Indies 
to take hiin, but he escaped, and came to the American coast. At length, 
grown reckless by success, he appeared in Rhode Island, and was soon after 
arrested in Boston, sent to England, and there gibbeted in 1700. 



Feb. 



544 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAi". A formid;il)lc representation was made to tlie King Ly 

jj^ the Board of Trade, concerning the many irregularities in 

16 9 8, Eliode Island, as to their refusal to take the oaths, their 
Dec . . o . 

21/' encouragement of illegal trafiic, their assuming admiralty 

jurisdiction to themselves, and resisting it from the crown, 

with, other flagrant acts of disloj^alty, and recommending 

that a commission of inquiry be sent to Lord Bellemont 

to examine into these matters, with a view to the issuino: 

lGi»8-ft. . . , ° 

Jan. ^ 9'?'0 ivarranto agamst the charter.' The inquiry was 
^'- ordered at once — the instructions to Lord Bellemont were 
prepared, not only for this, but for all the colonies, and a 
copy thereof forwarded to each. But Rhode Island was 
the special object aimed at. The Board made inquiries 
of Mr. Brenton, then in London, about the extraordinary 
militia power of the colony, and were informed that it was 
conferred by the charter ; but that recently the Assembly 
had given to the military the power of selecting their own 
officers. His former communication upon the subject of 
Marcli privateering papers, with the queries to be put to the 
government of Ehode Island, were embodied in the in- 
structions. They passed i[\Q council, and were presented 
on the same day for the royal signature." 

7^,1 The differences between Connecticut and Rhode Isl- 

14- and, and various difficulties arising from that cause, were 
the subject of much legislation at a special session of the 
Assembly. The former colony had spread a report that 
the people of Narraganset were not to be taxed while the 
dispute upon jurisdiction was pending. This was seized up- 
on by the disaffected as an occasion of disturbance, by refus- 
ing to pay the late levy. Other parties, without leave, 
had intruded in that countrjr. These were required to 
depart, or to arrange with the lawful owners without de- 
lay. The commission to treat vv^itli Connecticut was con- 

' Bi-. S. P. 0., Proprieties, vol. xxv., p. 27"). R. I. Col; Rcc, iii. o'>l-?j. 
- r.r. S. P. 0., Proprieties, vol. ii. pp. (JG^J, 767, and vol. xxv. pp. 305, 357. 
R. I. Col. Rec. ill. 3(53-7. 



BOUNDARIES OF TOWNSHIPS. 545 

tinned, and the legal rights of all persons, whether claim- chap. 
ing ownership by Connecticut titles, or otherwise, were ^^ 
secured, A law against peddling was adopted, with a 1C98-9. 
copious preamble, reciting the injuries to regular trade re- 
sulting therefrom, Warwick was again forbidden to ex- 
ercise jurisdiction north of Pawtuxet river, as had been of 
late attempted in the collection of taxes. The registra- 
tion- act was reaifirmed, and marriages were legalized 
which had been performed in disregard of the previous 
registry act. The magistrate's fee for performing the cer- 
emony was fixed at three shillings, with sixpence to the 
town clerk for recording the same. 

The colony were informed by Jahleel Brenton of the i ggn 
movements of Connecticut in regard to the boundaiy 
question. She now claimed a great pArt of Warwick and 
of Providence as well as all of Kings Province. At the 
May session Mr. Brenton was appointed sole agent to Lou- ^^'^y- 
don, in behalf of Khode Island, and funds were remitted 
to him for this purpose. The three Narraganset towns, 
Kingstown, Westerly, and Greenwich, were not yet agreed 
as to their respective boundaries, A committee was fully 
empowered to adjust all differences between them. They 
at once entered upon their duties, and within a month 
were prepared to report to the Assembly definite limits 
for each of the towns, which were accepted with but little 
variation, 1 Grov, Cranston wrote a long letter to the 27. 
Board of Trade deprecating the many false reports against 
the colony, circulated chiefly by Randolph, and announc- 
ing the appointment of Brenton as the agent. 

At this time Lord Bellemont, who for the first year of 
his residence in America remained in New York, removed 
to Boston, He was afflicted with the gout, a circumstance 
which, if we may credit his own words, interfered not a 
little with the discharge of the pressing duties of his gov- 
ernment, and seems to have affected his temper likewise, 

' Potter's Narraganset. R. I. U. C, iii. 108. 

VOL. I — 35 



6. 



546 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND, 

to the serious detriment of Ebode Island interests. His 
present purpose ^Yas to break up the piracy that had 
16 9 9. grown out of privateering, a work in which he found great 
" ^ difficulty, many of the leading famihes, especially of Leis- 
ler's party, in New York, as well as a large part of New 
England being concerned in it. By stratagem he suc- 
1. ceeded in enticing the notorious Capt. "William Kidd to 
come to Boston where he had him seized and thrown into 
prison. He had many friends in Ehode Island and Mas- 
sachusetts, and influential persons came even from Al- 
bany and New York, upon Kidd's affairs, all of whom 
Bellemont so far bhnded as to induce Kidd through 
their influence to come to Boston. Bradish, and other 
well-known pirates confined in the gaol, had recently 
been permitted to escape. The connivance was very 
general in the plans of these lawless freebooters, which 
much resembled the schemes of a later fillibusterism. 
Bellemont's letter to the Board of Trade sets forth the 
secret history of these transactions, and presents a la- 
mentable picture of the state of society in America at 
this period. With the many letters that he sent home 
this year, chiefly upon this subject, were inclosed a great 
mass of documents, nearly a hundred in number, accu- 
mulated for the most jiart as evidence in support of the 
charges against Ehode Island. We shall refer only to 
some of the most important, or interesting of these, ex- 
tending throughout the year. Among them is an order 
from Sarah, wife of Capt. William Kidd, who was im- 
prisoned with him, upon Capt. Paine who lived on Con- 
anicut, to pay the bearer tw^enty-four ounces of gold, for 
the support of herself and husband in gaol. In a later 
letter, Bellemont describes minutely the whole afiair of 
Kidd's arrest and examination. 

To further his designs upon Ehode Island, and to aid in 
securing other pirates known to resort there. Lord Belle- 
mont commissioned the members of the Admiralty Court, 



18. 
2G. 



ATTEMPTS TO SUPPRESS PIRACY. 547 

Brinley, Sandford and Coddington, to collect evidence and chap. 
to use tlieir efforts in capturing Gillam, Palmer, and other ,_^J^ 
confederates of Kidd. They accepted the trust, but de- 16 9 9. 
plored the difficulties attending it by reason of the sym- jq^' 
pathy everywhere felt for the freebooters. The feeling 
of the home government may be gathered from a letter 
written by the Board of Trade in reply to Gov. Cranston's ^^■ 
letter of May. Its language was very severe, blaming the 
colony for sending only an abstract of the laws instead of 
a copy of them as required, and that too an incorrect and 
imperfect one, and sharply rebuking them for the en- 
couragement given to piracy by the commissions granted 
in 1694 by the deputy governor, whose ignorance, if that 
were the real and not simply the ostensible cause, as the 
Board intimate, of his conduct, should have excluded him 
from public office.^ The correspondence between the 
commissioners and Lord Bellemont is full of the names of 
the accomplices of Kidd, who at various times resorted 
to this bay, and of those who harbored them, many of 
whom were arrested. The urgency of these affairs led the 
governor to call a special session of the Assembly at New- 21. ■ 
port, of which the only record that remains is the speech 
made by Gov. Cranston at the opening, assigning his 
reasons for convening it, which is filed with the Belle- 
mont papers in the British archives. The reasons w^ere, 
the expected visit of Lord Bellemont to Khode Island to 
inquire into the irregularities of the government and to 
settle the dispute with Connecticut, and the necessity of 
raising money to defray the expenses of this visit and of 
another agent to join Mr. Brenton in England, to defend 
the colony from the attacks of its enemies.'^ Just before y^^p^.^ 
sroinff to Rhode Island, Lord Bellemont wrote to the Board 8. 
upon the difficulty of enforcing the acts of trade in New 
York, " where the people have such an appetite for piracy 

^ The colony took the bint at the next election, as we shall presently see. 
- Br. S. P. 0., Pi-oprieties, \^l iv. p. 643. 



548 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, and unlawful trade that they are ready to rebel as often 
,3!i_. as the government puts the law in execution against 
16 9 9. them," and he is equally severe upon the lawyers of that 

Sept. -r, 

rrovince. 

Bellemont has left a diary of his visit at Rhode Island 

and his proceedings there. The journey to Newport oc- 

'^" cupied two days. At Bristol ferry the governor and 

council, with a troop of horse, received and escorted him 

20 to Newport, where a meeting of the council was immedi- 
ately held and the royal commission was read. The next 

21- day his special instructions to inquire into the mal-ad- 
ministration of Rhode Island affairs were read to the 
council, and ex-governors Clarke and Easton, Gov. Crans- 
ton and Deputy Gov. Greene and Pel eg Sandford, were 
examined upon the several points charged in the instruc- 

22. tions. The troublesome subject of oaths was then mi- 
nutely inquired into. The scruples of many in Rhode 
Island upon this subject could never be comprehended by 
the British officers, A somewhat similar idea of legality 
pertained to the exact form of an oath, as was attached 
to the possession of a seal in those days. It was an em- 
blem of loyalty as the latter was of sovereignty, and the 
letter of the law on tliis point was more insisted upop 
than its spirit. The omission of it was one of the chief 
causes of complaint against Rhode Island. This, and 
the volunteer militia system, were two grand stumbling- 
blocks to an English comprehension of Rhode Island 
peculiarities. 

23. While they were under consideration Gov. Winthrop, 

with the Connecticut commissioners upon the Narragan- 

set dispute, arrived. Tlie conflicting clauses in the two 

charters were read, and also the agreement between the 

two agents. Dr. Clarke and John Winthrop, thereupon. 

The case was then aro-ued by the commissioners on each 
25 » ^ 

side, and they were advised to come to a mutual agreement. 

This was attempted in vain. Bellemont then ordered 



EPISCOPAL CHURCH MOVEMENT. 549 

them to prepare a statement of their claims. This was chap. 
done and presented the next (hay, affidavits were taken ^^ 
upon the case, and the two colonies were warned to send 16 9 9. 
their agents to England to lay the matter before the ^^f' 
King. Further examinations in regard to piracy were 
had. Caleh and Josias Arnold were added to the members 
of the admiralty court as commissioners to collect evi- 
dence upon the charges, and the governor and council 
were requested to aid them in the work. 

The earliest movement in favor of an Episcopal 
church in Khode Island now assumed an oro;anized form. 
A number of the people who preferred that service, had 
commenced in the early part of this year to hold public 
worship, and now petitioned the Earl of Bellemont to in- 
tercede with the home government that aid might be ex- 
tended to them in support of a settled minister. The 
paper was signed by sixteen persons, headed by two of the 
old Huguenot names, whose establishment in Narraganset 
had been abandoned amid the distractions occasioned by 
the contest for jurisdiction. Of the whole number of 
forty-five families who had settled at Freuchtown, all but 
two had left for New York, and those two had removed 
to Boston. But two individuals remained in the colony. 
ThcbC settled at Newport and appear as the first signers 
of the petition. Although the Huguenots differed essen- 
tially from the church of England upon many points, be- 
ing themselves the direct offshoots of the Geneva school 
of theology, their simple but beautiful ritual approached 
nearer to that of the English church than it did to the 
yet simpler forms of the Baptist, or to the strictly spirit- 
ual communion of the Society of Friends. Hence they 
sympathized with the new movement, and appear as its 
leaders.' 

Meeting-houses were this year built by the Friends at 
Portsmouth and Newport, tlie latter in place of an old 

See Appendix G. fur this iiitcrcstiug document. 



12. 



)50 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

one, shortly afterwards taken down, whicli had been erect- 
ed in the early years of the colony. 
1^6 9 9. Bellemont having finished his business, placed the 

governors of Rhode Island and Connecticut under bonds 
of three thousand pounds each to enforce the acts against 

27. pirates, and left Newport, escorted as before to the ferry. 
He reached Seelconk that night, and arrived at Boston the 

Oct. next afternoon. He then wrote to Clov. Cranston, thank- 
ing him for the hospitalities he had received at Newport, 
and directing the arrest of Bradish, a pirate who had es- 
caped to Rhode Island. An accurate copy of the laws and 
of the acts of council of the colony was recjuired, a task not 
easy to perform in the disordered state of the records. But 

^- Gov. Cranston, in his reply, promised it should be done. 

One more effort was made in the Connecticut As- 
sembly, by appointing a new committee, to settle the 
(piestion with Rhode Island, v.dthout sending an agent 
to England ; but foreseeing the futility of further effort 

J- in that way. Gov. AVinthrop sent a commission to Sir 
Henry Ashurst as agent of the colony, and advised the 
Boa I'd of Trade of his appointment. Bellemont wrote to 

10- Gov. Cranston not to distrain for taxes in Narras-anset 
until the dispute was settled, and also reproved his tardi- 
ness in not having yet sent the laws and acts of council as 
ref[uircd. Brinley wrote that no council records could be 
found, but that the laws would be sent after the As- 
sembly, about to meet, had put them in proper shape. 
Gov. Cranston replied to Bellemont, that they could not 
comply with the order to send, an agent to England unless 
they raised a tax, and this they could not do if they were 
forbidden to levy upon the portion of the colony claimed 
by Connecticut, being nearly all the mainland. Here was 
a difficulty which the General Assembly, convened at 
Warwick, had to meet. It was met, as such hindrances 
often were, by ignoring it. A tax of six hundred pounds 
had before been assessed, and copies of the law, under seal, 



21 



BELLEMONT DENOUKCES THE COLONY, 551 

had already been sent to tlie several towns. This was 
considered enough, arid no notice was taken of the injunc- 
tion, or command of Bellemont. His other orders were 1090. 
better respected. A committee to transcribe the laws ' 

was appointed, to report at the adjourned session. In 
compliment to the action of the Connecticut Assembly, a 
committee of conference upon the matters in dispute was 
appointed to meet in two weeks at Wickford. An at- 
tempt was made to appoint an agent to go to England, 
but none would accept it, and the subject was laid over to 
the adjournment. Depositions in regard to Gillam and q 
other pirates were taken at this time, and forwarded to 
England by Lord Bellemont, with a letter denouncing the 
government of Ehode Island, as " the most irregular and 
illegal in their administration that ever any English gov- 
ernment was." His criticisms were amply sustained by 
the complaints constantly sent to him by the admiralty 
commissioners at Newport. Sandford says that any com- g_ 
mission direct from his Majesty is considered as an in- 
fringement of the charter privileges, and those who take 
them are looked upon as enemies to the State. 

The joint commission of the two colonies met at Wick- 
ford. Their eorrespondence was brief, and, as was antici- 
pated on each side, inconclusive. An appeal to the King- 
was now the last resort. Bellemont wrote to the Board of ig. 
Trade a full statement of the case, and enclosed all the 
documents relating thereto. The adjourned session of the 
Assembly was held at Newport, and vainly attempted to ^^• 
select an agent. Six nominees declined. The matter 
was referred to a committee to find an agent who would 
go, and to order all things requisite to that object. The 
committee to revise and transcribe the laws, made a full 
report, which was received, and all laws not included in 
their transcript were repealed. 

At length Lord Bellemont, having collected a great 
mass of evidence to support the charges against Rhode 



29. 



552 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND, 

CHAP. Island, made his report to the Privy Council. It was a 
.^^^.^^ formidable paper, presenting under twenty-five distinct 
16 99. heads, an array of testimony against Bhode Island, which 
27, * we can only wonder at this day that the friendless colony 
was enabled, to resist. That she was not utterly crushed 
beneath the cumulative evidence of every kind of irregu- 
larity that was hurled upon her by the indeflitigable zeal 
and the consummate ability of Bellcmont, can scarcely be 
accounted for by any human agency. It is the greatest 
marvel in the history of Eliode Island in the seventeenth 
century. Slie had had many narrow escapes, but this was 
the most wonderful of them all.' Immediately following 
this report he sent a letter to the Board of Trade on the 
subject of piracy, wherein he denounced Gov. Cranston 
for "conniving at pirates, and making Khode Island their 
sanctuary." 

Some people of Westerly, acting upon the prohibition 
issued by Bellemont, refused at town meeting to elect as- 
sessors of the tax laid by the Assembly for sending an agent 
to England. Upon this Gov. Cranston issued a warrant 
for the arrest of several persons who had signed a protest 
against the said election, and appointed a special con- 
stable with a sufficient force to serve the warrant. The 
firmness of Cranston at this crisis, did more than any 
other one cause to save the colony from extinction. 

A fair copy of the laws and acts of the colony was at 
last sent to Bellemont, with a letter explaining the causes 
of delay, and dejorecatiug the conduct of the commission- 
ers appointed by his Lordship, as being adverse to the in- 
terests of the colony. Cajit. Joseph Sheffield, one of the 
assistants, carried the papers; and that he might serve as 
a special envoy to soothe the anger of the Earl, his cre- 
dentials were stated in the letter, requesting Bellemont to 
"discourse with the bearer" upon the state of the colony. 

' The Original Report and Journal of Lord Bellemont are in Br. S. P. 0., 
Proprieties, vol. iv. pp. ')G5, 573. See R. I. Col. Rec., iii. 385-93. 



Dec. 



26. 



?>l. 



1700. 



THE CODE OF LAWS SENT TO ENGLAND. 553 

The commissioners followed the next day, with a letter chap. 
declaring that the copy of the laws sent was neither com- w^— ' 
plete nor correct, and condemning the arrests made at 16 9 9. 
Westerly, the parties taken having been carried to New- 
port jail. This act roused the anger of Connecticut. 
The governor and council of that colony empowered Capt. 25. 
Mason to seize any Ehode Island officer who should at- 
tempt to distrain for taxes in Westerly. Brinley also 
wrote to Lord Bellcmont in regard to the sedition act, 
which the last Assembly had revived, and under which the 
Westerly prisoners were to be tried ; and a few days later 
he again wrote in the same strain, denouncing the whole 
code, and the manner of its adoption by the Assembly. 
The laws were sent over to the Board of Trade, with 
abundant annotations and denunciations by Bellemont, Jp.^"- 
together with the letters of Brinley upon the state of the 
government.' 

The threatening aspect of affairs caused frequent ses- 
sions of the General Assembly. A permanent agent in 
England was indispensable to the salvation of the colony. 
Mr. Brenton had acted in her behalf upon the Connecti- 
cut dispute, and had since been empowered to defend her 
charter; but he was the collector of Newport, and liable 
to be sent home to his post, a purpose that Bellemont 
was seeking to accomplish. A man was at last found 
both able and willing to take the responsible position. 
Capt. Joseph Sheffield, who had lately served as envoy to Yeh. 
Bellemont, was selected as the ag-ent to defend the char- 16. 

' The original authorities for the events of the year 1699, above related, 
are so numerous and varied in the British State Paper office, that the writer 
deemed it best to insert them all in a single note at the end. For the local 
reader these references can ha9e no interest, but to the historian who may 
wish to verify facts or dates herein stated, by examining the archives in Lon- 
don, they will be found of great importance in the saving of time and trouble. 
They are in the bundles marked as follows : New England, vols. ix. and x. 
Proprieties, vols. iii. iv. v. and sxvi. America and West Indies, vol. 379, and 
New York, vol. ix. 



)54 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. 

tered riglits of Rhode Island, at the Court of Samt 
James. If he should find, on reaching London, that 
17 00. Brenton had already acted upon his late commission in 
defence of the charter, the two were to be united in the 
agency ; otherwise, Shefiield was to he the sole agent, 
with an annual salary of eighty pounds, besides his neces- 
sary expenses. The Assembly adjourned to New Year's 
day, when the only business done was to establish, upon a 

25 permanent basis, a horse-ferry between the mainland and 
Conanicut. 

The Court of Trials, held the next day, conducted 

26. with a hicrh hand against Pemberton and the other Wes- 
terly prisoners, under the sedition act. The grand jury 
ignored the bills. The Court refused to receive the re- 
turn, and adding three more to the jury, sent them out a 
second time. Again they failed to find indictments. The 
Court then added six more persons to the jury, and again 
sent them out to deliberate, with positive orders to find 
true bills. After several hours' consultation, twelve of the 
twenty-one made a return in accordance with the instruc- 
tions of the Court. This was an exercise of power more 
dangerous to the hberties of the colony than any they 
were likely to suffer, even from the will of Bellemont; and 
it was followed up by a verdict of guilty, obtained by a 
similar violence on the part of the Court towards the 
petty jury, who, at first, were for acquitting the prisoners.' 
There was need of haste in the matter of Sliefiield's 
., commission, for the Board of Trade, upon receipt of Lord 

8. Bellemont's report, sent an abstract of it to his Majesty, 
and recommended its reference to the Law officers of the 
crown, " to consider what method may be most proper for 
bringing the colony under a better form of government," 
and that they proceed forthwith.^ 

The memorial of the foreman of the grand jury at 

' Br. S. P. 0., Proprieties, vol. v. pp. 417-421. 
- Br. S. P. 0., Proprieties, vol. xsvi. p. 184. 



RIOTS IN KINGS PROVINCE. 555 

Newport, wlio was one of the nine dissenters from the act chap. 
of the majority, in finding a bill against the Westerly J^}^ 
prisonerSi^ was presented to Bellemont. He wrote a sharp 170 0. 
letter to Gov. Cranston, pronouncing the proceedings in 22. 
the case of Pemberton, to bo the " most arbitrary and ir- 
regular he had ever heard of, next to taking away a man's 
life against law ; " and also rebuking them for sending an 
armed force to levy taxes in Narraganset, This latter 
procedure was retaliated by Connecticut. Mallett, the 
sheriff of Rhode Island, was seized, with several of his 
posse, by a Connecticut force, and taken to New London 
jail, where the others were released on bail, but the sheriff 
was detained for trial.' Riots attended upon these attempts 
to collect taxes, and the whole of Kjngs Province was in 
a state of disorganization. A Court of Inquiry was held 
at Kingstown, at which a large number of persons were 
fined for resisting the ofiicers. 

At the general election, John G-reene, who for ten sue- May 
cessive years had been elected deputy governor, was 
dropped, and ex-Gov. Walter Clarke was chosen in his 
place. The ferry from Newport to Jamestown was settled 
upon similar terms with that to the mainland. News 
having arrived that Brenton had accepted and acted upon 
his commission as general agent for the colony, the ap- 
pointment of Sheffield was revoked. The recent riots in 4. 
Kingstown occupied the Assembly. Many persons ap- 
peared and confessed their fault. Some had their fines 
remitted, and others were bound over for trial at the Sep- 
tember term. The seizure of the high sheriff" by the Con- 
necticut government did not impede the collection of the 
tax. Another sheriff was appointed, and also special con- 
stables, with sufficient force to complete the gathering of 
the six hundred pound tax forthwith. A new form of 
engagement for the deputies was adopted, binding them 
to allegiance to the Kiug, and fealty to the chartered au- 

' Br. S. P. 0., Proprieties, vol. v. p. 633. 



55G HISTOKT OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND. 

CHAP, thorities of the col(/ny. A determined spirit prevaded the 

J^r^ proceedings of tliis Assembly, sucli as liad not always 

170 0. been shown in critical times, but which was esseiitial in 
Mav 

" the final struggle for existence, upon which the colony 

13. had now fairly entered. At the close of the session, Grov. 
Cranston, in behalf of the Assembly, addressed a petition 
to the King, imploring a continuance of the charter.' 
He also wrote to the Board of Trade,'^ informing them 
that the late deputy governor had been left out of all of- 
fices of trust, at the recent election, on account of his ille- 
gally granting privateer commissions : that a more perfect 
copy of the laws was to be made and sent under seal, and 
that a new form of engagement had just been adojited to 
meet the views of the home government. It was a diplo- 
matic letter, well drafted to aid the efforts of Brenton in 
averting another quo ivarranto. 
June. ^^it ^^^^ E^^'l 0^' Bellemont was ready with a rejoinder 

22. sustained by documentary proof. He wrote to the Board 
that he had given up all attempt at reducing the disorders 
in Rhode Island, and forwarded the petition of Pember- 
ton, with other papers relating to the seizure and arbi- 
trary trial of the Westerly prisoners.^ Nor were these 
the only outrages committed in the name of the law, dur- 
ing this period of turmoil and excitement. The French 
settlement had been broken up, but Dr. Ayrault remained 
as a practising physician. Greenwich had extended its 
limits to embrace the whole of Frenchtown. It was 
charged that Ayrault had fenced in certain highways laid 

^}^ out through the settlement. A court of inquiry, com- 
posed of the officers of Greenwich and Warwick, was 
held there to decide upon the question; and, after delib- 

' Original ia Br. S. P. O. America and West Indies, vol. 370. U. I. Col. 
Rec, iii. 419. 

^ Original in Br. S. P. 0., Proprieties, vol. v. p. 317. 

' Originals in Br. S. P. 0., New York papers, vol. x. p. 25G, and Proprie- 
ties, vol. V. p. 413 



INDEPENDENT LEGISLATION. 557 

erating a whole day, tlic jury rendered a verdict of guilty chap. 
against the doctor. That night a mob attacked his house, ._i^,^ 
carried off himself and his son Daniel by force, maltreated 1 T 0. 
his aged wife who attempted to plead with them ; and 
having taken the two men to where the court was held, 
compelled them to give bonds to appear at the next Court 
of Trials. The affidavit of Dr. Ayrault, with the con- 
current testimony of John Fones, and others who were 
present, given soon afterwards at Newport, and yet more 
the subsequent conduct of the assailants in laying v;aste Aug. 
the premises, prove the whole affair to have been one of 
lawless violence, for which no excuse can be offered. It 
was a phase of border life, where law imposes Imt a feeble 
restraint upon the cupidity or the passions of men.' 

A special session of the General Assembly was held at 29. 
Newport. Acts were passed to lay a tax upon pedlars ; 
to require any man who should marry an executrix, to give 
bonds to perform the will of the testator so far as the es- 
tate would permit; to provide for a constable's watch in 
every town; and "that where the laws of this coUony, or 
custom, shall not reach or comprehend any matter, cause, 30. 
or causes, that it shall be lawfull to put in execution the 
laws of England." This last act Ibrms a fitting conclu- 
sion to the legislation of Ehode Island in the seventeenth 
century. It contains a covert assertion of sovereignty, 
amounting almost to an act of independence. It was an 
extreme application of the famous clause in the charter, 
which conveyed far more tlian its grantors imagined — that 
the laws should conform to those of England as nearly as 
possible, " considering the nature and constitution of the 
place and people there." 

Sir Henry Ashurst, agent of Connecticut, presented ^t.*^- 
to the Board of Trade a memorial setting forth the claim 
of that colony to the jurisdiction of Narraganset. Bren- 
ton replied to it with a counter memorial on the part of IT. 

' Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. xiii. 



558 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND. 

Rhode Island. Botli papers state concisely tlie grounds 
of their respective claims. After some delay, Brenton 
again called the attention of the Board to the snh- 
ject, and requested an early decision, as his business re- 
quired him to return to America.^ But this long dis- 
2iuted point was not destined to he so speedily arranged. 
Another quarter of a century was to elapse before the 
rights of Ehode Island should receive their final confirma- 
tion by the King in council. 

An event of the greatest importance to the people of 
this colony now occurred. The death of the Earl of 
g^^ Bellemont, at New York, removed the most formidable 
opponent to the charter of Rhode Island, who had ever 
ruled in New England. Unlike Sir Edmund Andros, 
Bellemont could neitlier be moved by flattery nor softened 
by courtes}'. He acknowledged in becoming terms the 
civilities extended to him on his visit to Newport, and in 
the same letter rebuked the free spirit of a people wlio 
virtually set at defiance the laws that he was appointed 
to execute. Had his life been spared, the ability with 
which he prepared the charges and evidence against this 
colony, and the energy that he displayed in pursuing his 
purposes to the bitter end, might have given another and 
a fatal termination to a contest that involved the colonial 
condition, and determined the future fortunes of Rhode 
Island. 

' Origiuals in Br. S. P. O.. rropncties, vol. v. pp. 675, 497-G3I. 



FOUNDING OF TEINITY CHURCH. 559 



CHAP. 
XII. 



AI'P. 
G. 



APPENDIX G. 

FOUNDING OF TRINITY CHURCH, NEWPORT. 

(from BRITISH STATE TAPER OFFICE, NEW ENGLAND, VOL. IX.) 

To his Excelleiicj Richard, Earle of Behcmont, Capt. Gcncrall and Gov in 
Chiefe in and over the provinces of the Massachusetts Bay, New York 
and New Hampshire and the Territoryes thereon depending in America, 
and Vice Admii-al of the same, 

The humhle Petition of the People of the Church 
of England now resident in Rhode Island, 
Sheweth, 

That your Petitioners and others inhabiting within this Island having 
agreed and concluded to erect a church for the Worship of God according to 
the discipline of the Church of England and tho' we are disposed and ready 
to give all the encouragement we possibly can to a Pious and learned Minister 
to settle and abide amongst us, yet by reason we are not in a capacity to con- 
tribute to such an Hon'''" Mentenancc as may be requisite and expedient ; 

Your Petitioners therefore humbly pray that your Lordship will be pleased 
so farr to favour our undertakings as to intercede with his Maj'y for his gra- 
cious letters to this Government, on our behalfe to protect and encourage us and 
that some assistance towards the present mentenance of a Minister among us 
may he granted as your Excellency in your great wisdome shall think most 
meet, and that your Excellency will also be pleased to write in our behalfe 
and favour to the Lords of the Council of Trade and Plantations, or to such 
Ministers of state as your Excellency shall judge convenient in and about the 
premises. 

And your Petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray &c'. 
Gabriel Bernon W'". Brinley 

Piere Ayrould Isaac Martindale 

Thomas Fox Robert Gardiner 

George Cuttlcr Thos. Paine 

Will'". Pease Thos. Mallett 

Edwin Carter Rob^. Wrightiugton 

Fra. Pope Authy. Blount 

Richard Newland Thomas Lillibridge 

This petition was delivered at ISTewport, 26th Sept. 1699, and for- 
warded to the Board of Trade by Lord Bcllcmont on 24:th October. 
It was received and read on 5th January following. In his letter en- 
closing it to the Board, Bellemont says, " I send your Lordships the 
petition of several persons in Rliodc Island for a Church of England 



]Q0 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND, 

Minister and a yearly settled maintenance for one. I hope your Lord- 
ships will i:)lease to patronize so good a design, and will obtain his 
JMajcsty's allowance of a competent maintenance for such a Minister. 
It will be a means I hope to refoi'm the lives of the People in that 
Island, and make good Christians of 'em who at present are all in 
darknesse." The petition was sent by the Board of Trade to the 
Bishop of London, who presented it to the King, by whom it was re- 
ferred back to the Board, April IG, for their opinion upon what was 
proper to be done in the matter. Other petitions for promoting the 
Gospel among the Indians were pending at the same time. From these 
movements originated the "Society for propagating the Gospel in 
foreign parts," incorporated in 1702, by whom, two years later, the 
Rev. James Iloneyman was sent out as a missionary to this station, 
upon petition of the wardcys,.of Trinity church to the society for aid. 
Meanwhile, Rev. ]\Iri~tockyer, who iiad. gathered the church early in 
169$, new style, served as its reel-ery and the building was completed 
some time in 170^. 



END OF VOLUME FIRST. 



GENEKAL INDEX TO VOLUME FIKST. 



Abbott, Archbishop, G 

Acorns, 84. 

Acquidncset, 85t. 

Acts of Trade and Navigation, 454, 464, 467, 530, 

535, 538, 544. 
Addresses of It. I. to Home Government, 402-6, 

514, 520, 528, 541. 
Adlam, liev. S., lOS n. 
Administrators of estates, 443. 
Admiraltv courts in E. I., 240, 4SS, 535, 539, 541. 
Adriaiiople, 523 n. 
Adultery punished by Indians, 75; by Gen. Ass., 

320.' 
Advertisement of Narr. lands, 445, 447, 457. 
Agamenticus, 157 n. 
'■ Agawam, Simple Cobbler of," cited, 45. Town 

of, 370. 
Agents of R. I. in England, 845, 430, 440, 4rl7, 451, 

463, 493, 526, 545, 553. 
Agreement between Clarke and AVinthrop, 2S2. 

296, 297, 851. 
.\larm established, 132. 
Albany, 309, 527, 528, 529, 546. 
Albro. or Alborough, Capt. John, 457. 499, 508. 
Alderman, an Indian, 410. 
Ak'iors, 437, 463. 

Alitn law in Mass., 61, 68; in R. I., 242. 
Alleghany Mts., 96. 
Allen, James, 432. 

Alui}-, Christopher, 51 S, 526, 527, 529, 535. 
'•Ambition Anatomized," referred to, 861. 
Anabaptist, name how applied, 151 note. 
Anchor, for State seal, 204. 
Andei'son's " Hist, of Commerce," 497 n. 
Andros, Sir E., 397, 455, 4S4, 493, 495, 498; his 

administration, 49S-510 ; reviewed, .514-17; 

new commission, 503 ; fall, 510-14, 520, 55S. 
Anecdotes, 1S3 n., 188 n., 189 n., 505 n. 
Angel, or Angell, Thomas, 97, 103. 
Anglesea, island, 47. 
Annawon, Indian chiet, 417. 
Annexation of Warwicli and Pawtuxet to Mass., 

131 ; of Plymouth, 524. 
Antinomian controversy, 47, 51-69 ; doctrines, 

52-5, 65 ; party, 54, 56, 58 ; Impolitic course, 

Gl ; trial ol leaders, 63, 64; disarmed, 64; re- 
view of, 66-9; term how applied, 151 n. 
• Antiquitates Americanre," referred to, 28. 
■• Antiquities of Connecticut," referred to, 460, 

461, 469. 481, 482, 533, 536, 539, 543. 
Apples, first in E. I., 99 n., 137. 
Vol.. I. — 36 



Applcton, Major, 403. 

Apportionment of taxes, 205, 271, 272, 270, 313 
346, 450, 542. 

Apprenticeship, 101. 

Aquedneck island, 2-3, 69, 70,113; purcluisr of, 
125; compact, 124; the settlers of, 125; two 
governments at, 135; united. 143 ; election, 
148; fire, 152; claimed by Tlymouth, 159. 
223,440,444,477; proceedings "against Gor- 
ton, 107-172; his return to, 1S9 ; dissensions 
at, 213, 221; petition to United C<ilonies, 
222; usurped by Coddington, 238; sends Dr. 
Clarke to England, 239"; courts, how hid.l. 
252; Indians sent off, 831; guarded, 407: 
smallpox at, 523. 

Arbitration a basis of government. 170; declined 
in the Warwick case, 182. 

Arcliery prescribed by law, 209. 

Argyle, Duke of, 4S1. 

Arlington, Lord, 315. 

Arminiau party, 6. 

Arms and ammunition ordered, 413. 

Arnold, William, 100, 102, 104, 107, 111, 174, 170. 
177, 238, 248, 258. 267, 208, 271. 

Arnold, Benedict, 103. Ill, 191. 190, 197, 207, 327, 
345, 380; Asst, 2.52, 274; Pres., 20-3, 278, 283, 
284; Gov.. 29.% 306. 337, 426, 441; death, 443. 

Arnold. Benedict. Jr.. 254, 518. 

Arnold, Sti-|ilirii, 2.58. 

Arnold. Jiichard, 499, 508. 

Arnold, Caleb, 549. 

Arnold, Josias, 549. 

Arnold, Capt., of Portsmouth, 520. 

Arnold, Cajit. Joseph, 520. 

Arran, Earl of, 479, 529, 538. 

Arrests and reprisals, 277, 282, 461. 

Ashurst, Sir Henry, 515, 537, 550, 557. 

Aspinwall, William, 03, 124; Sec, 127, 131, 133 
n. ; Asst, 135. 

Assassination, attempt at, 469. 

Assembly of R. I. See Gener.al Assembly. 

Assessors of taxes, 531. 

Assistants, title of, adopted, 143 ; how to be cho- 
sen, 295 ; duties and powers of, 211, 301, 302, 
321, 327. 

Association, Warren Baptist, lOS n., 125. 

Associations of loyalty, 532, 534. 

Astrononi)', Indian, 82. 

Atheist, triid of an .alleged, 183 n. 

Athcrt..!). Hiunphrey, 180,197,199,2.31,272,379. 

Atheitou i-oinpatiy .and purchase, 272, 275, 282. 
283, ■.'y7, 2U9, 302, 308, 314, 315, 310, 341, 865. 
878-386, 427, 440, 445, 447, 463, 400, 474, 4S3, 
501, 505, 507, 530, 534. 



.G2 



GENERAL INDEX TO VOLUME FIRST. 



Attleboro'' (Jori', 0-* n. 

Attdi-iicvs, :i;>lj. 

Awai-.U-; i;ii-liai-a, 1;^::?. 

AwasliDiiks, S()iuuv Sachem of Seaeonnet, 895, 

414. 
Ayraiilt, Dr. I'ierre, 4i)-!, :«(), 559. 
Ayrault, Daniel, 557. 



B 



P.abeock, •Tames. ;U4, o44, o50. 

Babcock, .Job, 4i;i. 

Baokus, Hist, of Baptists, roforred to. 24, 49, 
4bS. 

Bailey, BicUanl, S43, 8-W, 4-27, 447. 

Jaker apiiointed, a ])ublie, 1"29. 

Balstoue, William, 64, 124, 127, 12S, 159, 1(52, 
2.3:5. Treas. 143. Asst. 185, 14S. 219, 2Cil, 
2(3. 274, 295. 

Bancroft, Arelibishop. 5. 

Bancroft, Hon. Geo.. 47. Hist, of V. S. veferrcl 
to. 90, 92)1.. lS5n., 211, 871,872, 874, 3s4, 5! s. 

Banishment abolished, 232. 

I!ankrni>t law, 442. 

Baptist Cliureh. First, 107, discussion as to pri- 
ority, lOSii., l:;9ii., 140 n. 

Baiitists" persecuted in Mass., 234-5; most nu- 
merous in U. I.. 490. 

Barben-y bushes, 4t)5-(). 

Barbadoes, 209, 829, 8.59, 4^9, 513. 
-Barker. James, 295, 844; Dep. Gov., 419. 

iiiirrini;'ton, 09. 

Barrv. .lohu S., 1S5 n. 

Bai-tii^tt, II(.n. John ];. 325. 52S. 

ISarton, Uufus, 217, 218. 

B-ass, SO; ponds, 507. 

Bath.s, Huliau sweating, 76. 

Battle at Mvstic, 93; IS'ew Haven, 95; Narr. 
and Mohei,'., 110, 196; Fodand ferry, 897; 
Pocasset, 809; lladley, 400, 413;'(;rcat 
swamp ti:;ht, 403-0; Warwick, 415; Naval. 
521. 

Baxter, Capt. Georse, 24S, 249, 2W, 310. 

Beacons, 3;;i, 521. 

Beads, Inilian, SI. 

Beans, .SO. b4. 

Bears, 73. 

Beaver, Si, 204, 227. 

Beddar, Tliomas, 133. 

Beers. Capt, 400. 

BeLr'j;ars, none in B. I., 490. 

Belknap, Hist, of New Hamp., 60. 470. 

Bell provided, 4.VJ, .521. 

Bellemont, Karl of, 524, 531, 533, 586, 539, 511- 
556 ; death, 55S. 

Benedict, Key. David, Hist, of Baptists, referred 
to, 107. 

]?cntley"s Hist, of Salem, referred to, 21. 22, 26. 

Bermuda Islands, 492. 

Berncm, Gabriel, 5.59. 

Berlon, P., 497. 

Bewett, Hugh, 229, 240, 245 ; tried for treason, 
243. 

Bicotry, 147 n., 21ft n. 

Bill of Pi-hts. 200, 207. 

Births, tlie first in U. [., 106, 107, 490. 

Plackbirds, SO, .537. 

Blaekstone, William, 10.72,98-9 n., 107,261. 327, 
836; deal li, 869. 

P>lathwayt, Secretary, 461, 477. 

Pdoek, .V'diian, 70 n. 

Block island, 73, S7, 88, S9. .301, .303, 304, 800. 307, 
817, 321. .342, 8M. 521, 522, 523. 

Blount, .\nthony, 559. 



Board of Tra.le, replies to the. 488-191; title 

of the, 529 11. 
Boats libelled, 181, 133 n. 
Borden, Pobert, 245. 
I'.orden, John, 894. 

Borden, or Jiurden, Bich.ard, 250, 252, 255. 
Bossiiet, intolerance of, 4.5. 
Boston, 9. 21, GO, Os, 8S, 89, 92, 0.5, 98, 117, 18-3, 

187. 198, 197, 198, 204, 26.5, 269, 278, 277, 278, 

809, 457, 4S3, 498, 500, 511, 518, 516, 522, 525, 

527, 536, 545, 549. 
Boston Neck, 272, 458. 
Boundary of 11. I. defined, 295. 
Boundary disputes, Western. 295, 304, 80S, 810, 

812, 833, 885, 337, 841, 843-8, 878-380, 428-7, 

440-458, 460-2, 486, 605, 525, 530, 534, 542-5, 

548, 551. 
Boundary di.sputes. Eastern, 808, 012, .815, 440, 

444, 527, .529, 581, 535. Northern. 531. 
Boundary disputes, Prov. and Pawtuxet, 429- 

43S;"P<irts. andNpt., 478. 
Bounty on wolves and foxes, 154, 161, 534. 
Hradtord, Gov., 22, 232. 
P.radtord, :*Iajor, 40M. 
Bradish, a pirate, 546, 550. 
I'.radshaw, John, 28S. 
Bradstreet, Gov. Simon, 186, 415, 511, 525. 
Braintree, 52, 5,5. 

Breda, Declaration of, 293 n., 319, 479. 
Brenton, AVilliam, 128, 812. 380; Elder, 131, 182; 

De]!. Gov., 148, 147, 159, 160,267, 295,306; 

Pre.s., 274; Gov., 327, 356. 
Breuton, Jahleel, 589, 587, 589, 542, .543, 544, 545, 

547, 5.53-8. 
Brewster, Eider, 24. 
Brewster, M., 265. 
Bribery, 883-5, 409. 
Bria-ges, John, 133, 1.53. 
Brinley, Frauds, 467, 488, 502, 503, 517, 547, 550, 

5.58. 
Brinley. William, 5.59. 
Bnstid', 23, 8S8, 478, 501, 535. 
British State Pa]ier GlUce Documents, referred 

to. 8, 195.280. 297, 8<l.5. 300, 310, 314, 815, 

319, 323. ;j24, 873, 375, 377, 378, S!)8, 410, 418, 

+-!3, 435, 430, 441, 445, 446, 447, 451, 452, 458, 

450. 458, 460-4, 400, 469. 471-4, 480, 481, 488, 

484, 4'.i3-6, 49-i, 5ul-7, 509, 510, 511, 513, 514, 

515, 517. 5-.'0, 522, 523, 524, 528. 529, 535, 536, 

53s, 539. 541-4, 547, 552-8. 
liroadhead, J. P., Hist, of New Yoi-k referred 

to, 1.55 n. 
Brookticld burnt, 399. 413. 
Brown, t^had. 108, 181. 

Brown, ,Tohn, of Plymouth, 159, 160, 161, 191. 
Brown, .lohn Garter, 280 n. 
Browne, Nicholas, 183. 
Browne, John, 432. 

Browne, the two of Salem sent back, 10, 19. 
Brownell. Thomas. 204. 
BulL'ur. Bichard, 261, 274, 278. 
Bulkelev, Peter, 440. 452, 453. 
Bull. Ih'urv, 124. 127, 128, 13), 132, 144, 224; 

Gov., 4sO, 518. 
Bull. ('apt. Thomas, of Conn., .504. 
Bull, "Memoirs of U. 1." referred to, 124, 136, 

149. 
BuUoeke, Erasmus. 183. 
Burdelt, Pcdiert, 277, 281. 
P>nri;l;iry. law of, 207 ; punished, 851. 
Burials, Indian, 77; number of, 490. 
Burning of Fort iNlystie, <.I4. 
Burnyeat. Quaker preacher, 360-2. 
Burrwood, Thomas, 141. 
Bytield, Natlianiel, 478, 503, 587. 



GENERAL INDEX TO VOLUME FIRST. 



563 





Casres for criminals, ordered, 257, 207, 313, 470. 

Callonder, Itev. John, century sermon referred 
to. 1'25. Ul), 448, 475, 501. 

Calverly, Edmund, 811, 317, 33S. 

Calvin, .lolin, 2, 67, 270. 

Calvinism in France, 496. 

Cambri<l20, 60, 61, 265, 474; County of, 300,471 ; 
University, 47. 

Canada, 522. 527. 

Cannibals. 73. 

Canoes. Indian, 80. 

Canouc.liet, Sachem, 401 ; death, 410; character, 
411. 

Canonicus, Sachem, 23, 24, 70, 74, 77, SS, 90, 92, 
99,105, 118, 1.58. 190, 276, 391, 430; death, 
211 ; character, 213. 

Capo Cod, 69. 

Captures t)y K. I. privateers, 247, 248, 219. 

Carder, IJicdiard. 124, 127; disfranchi.sed, 1.53. 
167; at Warwick, 176; sentence. 187. 

Carpenter, William, 100, 102, 107, 111, 25S, 207, 
331. 

Carr. Caleb, 276, 844, 449; Gov., 530; death, 
582 
■ Carr, Si'r Robert, 805, 309, 313, 824, 325, 439, 529. 

Carre, Eev. ICzekiel, 497. 

C.irter, Edwin, 559. 

Curtwriitht, Col. George, 305, 323, 324. 327. 

Ca>WL-ll. Alexis. D. D., 108 n. 

C.ii.ipfc-i. Suc^hem, 400. 

Catsli;iiiii'kiii, Sachem, 88. 

Cavalry .-..rps. 330, 332, 468. 

('a\yi;uu(|uante, Sachem, 431. 

Censures passed, 858, 365. 

Census of Newjjoi't, 142; of Aquedneck, 410. 

Challense, Indian, 75. 

Chalmers' "Political Annals," 298, 811, 371-S, 
501. 

Chanipolion. 134 n. 

Charles I.. 10, 27, 172, 190, 228, 505. 

Charles II.. 265, 274, 275, 280, 2S4. 290, 293. 319, 
362, 464 ; death, 479. 

Charlestown, Ma.ss., 9, 14, 98, 1S7, 188; R. I., 
155 n. 

Charter, Parliamentary, obtained, 114; first 
movement for, 141 ; Committee to obtain. 
154; n.atnrc of 200; ensa^'emcnt to, 202; 
confirmed by Cromwell, 255; exjiiration, 28,5. 

Charter, Ko_yal, reception of, 284; its chief 
points, 290-5; how kept, 357, 450; suspend- 
ed, 4S6; concealed, 506; resumed, 512, 518. 

Charter, the Narragansot, 118-120, 383; of Con- 
necticut, 281. 

Charters granted to towns, 220. 

Charter House, 47. 

< 'heesechamut, son of Pumhana, 324. 

CholmstVu-d. 408. 

Chestnuts, 84. 

Cliibacuwese, see Prudence I. 

Chuff, an Indian. 419. 

Church, C(d. Uenjamin, 895, 896, 397, 40.3, 404, 
405,414-17,420,501,519. 

Church, Tliomas, 398 u. 

Churches, I'uritan, how constituted, 58 n.; first 
^,alfli^t, 107; priority of, 108 n., 1.39 n.; at 
Aque<lneck, 139 ; schism, 151, 152. 

Chains. ^1, 8,). 

Clarendon, Ear! of, 284. 314, .328. 

Clarke. John, 69, 72. 124, 126. 1-32. 1 (0, 141, 151, 
1.52, 1.54, 226. 227, 229. 233. 312. 315, 321, 323, 
329. 330, 838, 345, 352, 354, 358, 367, 514; 
persecuted bv Mass.. 2-54. 235 ; nsent in 
England. 238^ 239, 252, 204, 208, 273, 275, 



276, 280. 284, 290, 379-380; return, 309, 310; 
revises Iaw.s, 311, 330; his character defend- 
ed, 298-301, 371-8; Dep. Gov., 337, 350; 
deatli, 412. 

Clarke, Walter, 499,500,506, 508, 512, .517. 518, 
539, 540, 518 ; Dep. Gov., 413, 454, 459, 40.5,' 
407, 470, 478, 480, 555 ; Gov., 418, 488, 532, 
533. 

Clarke, Joseph, 267, 277, 29.5, 461, 464. 

Clarke, Cajitain, 217. 

Clarke, William, 409. 

Clarke, or Clerkc, Jeremy, 1-32, 143,203,219; 
Pres. regent, 221, 222. 

Clawson, John, curse of, 405. 

(nitton, Hope, 273. 

Coasters Ilarlxir island. 1.36; bought, 254. 

Coddington, William, 23, 60, 63, 69, 124, 120, 127, 
132,203,221,254, 413,475; Judge, 70; deed 
of Aquedneck, 125; Gov. of Aquedneck, 
143,147,151,152,100,172; Prcs., 219; bis 
designs, 222, 223; goes to England, 225; 
u.surps govt., 237-8; power revoked, 242; 
retain.s the records, 246; submits to IJ. I., 
259; becomes a Quaker, 320; Dep. Gov., 
366; Gov., 867, 369, 447; death, 448. 

Coddington, William, (the son,) 471, 474, 480 • 
Gov., 470, 478. 

f!oildiugton, Nathaniel, 539, 547. 

Codeof 1017, 206-210. 

CoL-esliall, John, 63, 124, 127, 128, 131, 132, 143 
152, 245, 250, 201, 29.5, 300. 434, 442, 47s, 499 
.508; First Pres., 202; Dep. Gov., 4S3, 512. 

C.igireshall, Joshua, 341. 

Coiiieiik'iirrs, 293 n., 417. 

Coke, Sir Kdu-ard, 47. 

Coll.crt. Minister of France, 496. 

Cidd, intense, 406. 

Cole, Itobcrt, 100, 107, 111. 

Coh>, John, 347, 408. 

(\)llen, Mr., 48. 

Colors of New England, 490. 

Colson's petition, 448. 

Commissioners of the United Colonies, 117, 1.59, 
ITS 191, 196, 198, 199. 222, 22-3, 224, 229, 232, 
2:;s, 2:19, 249, 253, 20s, 272, 275, 270, 281, 309, 
339, 400. 

Commissioners, Royal, 305, 314-17, 322, 32-3, 
409, 471, 472, 473. 

Commissioners on bonndaries, 271, 815, 343, 348, 
350, 3.52, 357, 542, 548, 551. 

Commissions granted by R. I., 246, 250. 

Committees, of si.x, under first ckartor, 20,3, 210, 
219,229; introduced into Gen. A.ssv., 200 ; 
of the Whole, 5.33. 

Common Law adopted, 200. 

Compact, Pilgrim, 12 n.; Providence, 10,3; 
Aquedneck, 124. 133-4; Warwick, 216. 

Conanicut island, 23S, 254. 41.5, 449, 451, 546; 
Ferry, 5.54. 

Conant, Roger, 9. 

Conference, Hampton Court, 5; of clergy, 55; 
proposed, 359. 

Conformists, 2, 3. 

Confederacy, New England, 11,5, 156, 158, 340. 

Confiscations, 849, .8,5.5, 358. 

Connecticut, 190, 224; Indians in, 78; river, 87, 
89,95; settled, 93; claims Narrt., 281,282, 
29.5-3.ll. ::(!.■.. :;iK. 310, 312, 314. 319, 3.3.5, 
34:3-8, "M, 3."..;, :;.".5. 357, 300,308, 423,424, 
440, 4,V. ■>. li;o, ICl; decisions in favor of, 
474, ,534; claim rejected, 505 ; further cl.aims 
on It. I., 545; attempts to .adjust, .5.50; repri- 
sals, .5,53, ,5,")5; quo warranto. 48 1, 493; An 
dros usuri)s govt, of, .504; resumes ch.arter 
512; militia troubles, 524, .520. 

Conni cticut, Colonial liecords referred to, 281. 
305, 310, 333, 3:i4, 335, 368, 425. 



5G4 



GENERAL INDEX TO VOLUME FIRST. 



Conspiracy against Clarke exposed, 29S-801, 
8S3-G. 

Constables, duties of, 181 ; bow chosen, 46G, 509. 

Constructive felonies avoided, 206. 

Convention called, 232. 

Conwj'l C.ayo, 4S, 50. 

Cooke, C.apt., Isi). 

Cooke, John, 204. 

Cope, Kdward. lOo. 

C'orniorants. so. 

Corn, so, S4; .scarcity of, 142; price, 153. 

Coroner's inquest, 346. 

Cotton, Rev. John, 22, 26, 83, 52, 53, 55, 5G. 5S, 
59, 62, 65, 68, 164, 183, 188, 285. 

Council of State, 237, 238, 242-6, 25S. 

Council, General, of E. I., 2T0, 271 ; of Andros, 
500. 

Council, Indian, 83 ; houses for. 86. 

Council -of K. L, 302; Gov. and, 380,338,344, 
346, 352, 859 ; of war, 352. 

Courses and distances not understood, 331, 382. 

Court-houses to be built, 507, 524. 

Courts, proceedings of in Mass., 14, 16, 17, 20, 22, 
27, 28, 29, 30, 34, 35, 37, 57, 59, 60, 61, 68, 64, 
111, 127, 147, 176, 177, 178, 181, 182, 186, 187, 
191, 193, 196, 217, 226, 231, 232, 233, 238, 247, 
258, 267, 268, 273, 277, 283, 309. 

Courts in E. I. orjianized, 185, 138, 139; first 
of election at Npt., 14;? ; various kinds of, 
144; general, at Aquedneek, 146, 152, 158; 
of the Colonv, 203 ; of election, trials, and 
appeal, 204, 210, 227, 250, 270, 460 ; of com- 
missioners, 219, 226 ; styled General Assem- 
bly, 230 ; of Justices, 258 ; under royal char- 
ter, 302, 320, 329, 488 ; to be paid, 454 ; re- 
visory power of Gen. Ass., 448, 459 ; under 
Andros, 503,504, 506,507,509,510; tyran- 
ny, 554. 

Courts-martial, 442, 524. 

(Coventry, 176. 

Coweset, 160, 427. See Greemvich. 

Cowfantowit, Indian deity, 78. 

Cox, Dr., restores the Liturgy, 2. 

Crandall, John, 284, 235, 388'; 850, 351. 

Craufield, Gov. Edward, 469, 470-3. 484. 

Cranston, John, 250, 252, 303, 809, 815, 401 ; Bep. 
Go\., 356. 361, 413, 426, 44f ; Gov., 449, 454 ; 
death, 459. 

Cranston, Samuel, Gov., 540, 547, 548, .550, 562, 
555, 556. 

Cromwell, Oliver, 237, 249, 250, 252, 255, 256, 268, 
274. 

Cromwell, Richard, 271, 273. 

Crci>s in the colors, cut out, 29. 

( 'rowiie, John, 452, 458. 

Crows, 80. 

("ml worth, James, 4:^A. 

CiillM^per, Lord, 464, 466, 479, .'■)07. 

CuiiilHrland, 98 n. 

»'iirr:;iits. S-1. 

CuiM- .ifClawson, 46.5. 

CiiM Inmsc established, 465, 467. 

CiitliT. a pirate, 548. 

Cottier, George, 559. 



I) 



Davis, James, 133. 

Davis John, 196. 

Davoll, ('apt, 520. 

Dean, Ricliard, 829, 845, 413 n. 

Dean. Thomas, 408. 

Deane, Cliarles, 185 n. 

Deaths of (lovernors, 410, 441, 532. 

Debt, law of, 208. 

Debtor, absconding, 130. 



Declaration of Breda, 293 n., 319, 479; of Indul- 
gence, 502. 

Decorum in court, 220, 257. 

Dedford, Greenwich so called, 485. 

Dedh-am, 217. 

Deeds of Prov., 99-101 ; brevity of old, 121. 

Deer, 73, 79, 85. 154, 159, 161. 

Deerfleld, 4(10. 

Degree of M. D. conferred by Gen. Assy., 308. 

Deist, trial of an allesed, 183 n. 

Delaware Bay, 69 ; language, 86 ; Castle, 309 ; 
Colonv, 4S1. 

Delegated" power, jealousy of, 109, 131, 204, 206. 

Delft Haven, 7. 

Demetrius of Ephesus, 183. 

Democracy at Prov., 102 ; given up. 108 ; at 
Aquedneek, 148 ; declared, 205, 2(i7. 

Denison, C.apt. George, 264, 410, 411, 42.5, 484. 

Deputies, llouse of, 295; to take engagement, 
865. 

Derogatory jiassages repealed, 842. 

" Desire," 'the, a vessel, 248. 

Despotic spirit of the Puritans, 88. 

Dexter, Gregory, 252, 434 ; Pres., 245. 

Dice, Indian, 79. 

Digest of laws, 4.59, 483. 

Dinners provided by the Colon_y, 356. 

Disarming the Antinomians, 04; the Indians. 
330. 

Disfranchisement of Salem deputies, 34 ; ,at 
Aquedneek, 153 ; by Gen Assy., 247. 

Disposers at Prov., 108, 109, 174. 

DivoriT, [iiilinn, 76; prohibited, 232; granted, 
:j-.'o. :;il.-.. 4To : law of, 4s3. 

Dogmas, ilan-erous, 2.V!, 2C)2. 

Dongan, (iov. of N. Y., 509. 

Dorchester, 187. 

Doutch, Osamond, 131. 

Dower, Indian, 76. 

Downing, George, 464 n. 

Drake's •' Book of the Indians," referred to, 887, 
388, 389, 390. 417. 

Drunkenness, 129, 141, 866. 

Duck.s, wild, 80. 

Dudlov, Joseph, 898 n., 469; Pres. of Now Eng., 
482-5, 404 ; Chief Justice, 498, 511, 512. 

Dudley, Gov. Thomas, 46, 147 n., 186. 

Dnmmer, Richard, 60, 128. 

Durfee, Job, quoted. 96, 126, 449. 

Dutch, the, 1.59, 240; trade, 155; disturbance at 
Warwick, 241 ; war, 241, 245, 246, 824 ; ves- 
sels taken, 249, 267 ; surrender, 309 ; take 
N. Y., 866; invade England, 510. 

Dutch island, 254, 451. 

Duties, custc.m. 204, .584. 

Dyre, William. VU, 127, 182, 189, 143, 172, 208, 
220, 229, 242, 24:3, 246, 809, 817. 

Dyre, Mary, 265, 273. 



E 



Ear-marks, 153. 

Earle, Ralph. 188. 

Easton. Nicholas, 128, 1.80, 181, 182, 136, 141, 148, 

148, 151, 152, 158, 170.171, 222, 245, 320. 32(i; 

Pres., 229, 250 ; Dep. Gtif^ 342 ; Gov., 327, 356. 

857, 366, 369 : de.ath, 870. 
Easton, Peter, 180, 136, 856, 368. 
Easton, John, 180, 186, 245, 261. 274, 806, 341, 356 

542, 548 ; his n.irrative, 402 ; Dep. Gov., 

308; Gov., 519,52.5,580. 
Eaton. Gov. of New Haven, 147. 
" Ecclesiastical Ilist. of Mass..'' quoted, 188 n., 

Is6. 
Echard's " Hist, of England," referred to, 293. 
Eddy, Judge, 135 n., 167. 



GENERAL INDEX TO VOLUME FIRST. 



565 



Eden of America, 72. 

Eilmoiuis, Capt., 416. 

Edmundson, William, S60-362, 424 n. 

Education, provision for, 145, 2S2. 

Edward VI., 2. 

Edwards, Rev., 45 ; Mr., 8S3. 

Ertiiighain, Gov. of Va., 515. 

Egyptian hieroglyphics, 134 n. 

Elders at Ports., 131 ; title abolished, 14:5. 

Eldredge, Samuel, 347. 

Election days appointed, 252, 295. 

Elections at Pocasset, 131, 134, 135 ; at Newport, 
14;3, 148, 153 ; Colonial, 2(12, 203, 219, 226, 229, 
240, 250, 252, 255, 261, 263, 267, 271, 274, 276, 
278, 282, 306, 317, 327, 330, 334, 337, 342, 350, 
356, 357*, 366, 367, 369, 413, 426, 441, 454, 459, 
465, 467, 470, 478, 480, 4s3, 518, 619, 523, 530, 
532, 540, 555. 

Eliot. John. 324, 395, 390. 

Elizabeth, reign of Queen, 2-5. 

Elliott, Charles "W., 185 n. 

Eloquence, Indian, S3, 894. 

Elton, Koraeo, D. D., 47, 50, 475 n. 

Embassies, Pequot, S9; Williams to Narrts., 91 ; 
Mass. to same, SS, 15S, 196, 197, 199, 224, 248, 
398 ; to E. I., 217. 

Endicott, Gov. John, 9, 10, 14, 19, 20, 21, 26, 29, 
34, 46, 88, 89, 284, 260, 269, 303, 309. 

Engagement, form of, 148; to the charter, 202; 
State, to its otiicers, 205; of town councils, 
228; to the commonwealth, 245; changes in, 
317, 318, 326, 426; of Deputies, 365, 366, 428, 
555 

England in 1643, 113. 

Ephcsus, shrines of, 183. 

Epidemic, 424. 

Ejjiscopacy abolished, 237 ; hatred to Cromwell, 
274; introduced by Andros, 498; ia It. 1., 
549, 559. 

Errors of Grahame and Chalmers, 370-878. 

Esquimaux, 86. 

E.\eise of liquors, 868, 483, 503. 

Executions, 347, 351. 

Executors appointed by town councils, 209, 443. 

Exemption act, 366, 415, 423. 

Exports of R. I., 142, 489. 



Fairfield, John, 276. 

Fairfield, 249, 505. 

Famine, 19. 

Fast days in Mass., 59, 2C4, 402. 

Feaste, Indian, 79. 

Fellow Commoners, 49. 

Felt, Joseph B., 185 u. 

Fenner, Arthur, 263, 331, 332, 334, 342, 358, 414, 

423, 425, 432. 434, 4:55, 473. 
Ferries established. 146, 554, 555. 
Field, John, 103, 254. 
Field, Thomas, 434. 
Field, William, 181, 229, 267, 274, 295. 
Fines, 258, 261, 275, 829, 365. 
Fire, 152; Act to prevent, 506, 509. 
Firearms first used by Indians, 95; supplied to 

thom, 156; forbidden to, 204; Act repealed, 

483. 
"Firebrand Discovered," referred to, 332. 
Fisher's island, 521. 

Fishing, 79 ; declared free, 143 ; protected, 507. 
Fitz-Winthrop, John, 409. 
Flag of New England, 496. 
Fleets, Indian, 80. 

Fletcher, Gov. of N. Y., 524. 526, 531-533. 
Florldian Language, 86. 
Flounilers, Thomas, 346-349. 



Foanes, or Fones, John, 468, 472. 484, 4S5, 497, 

520, 557. 
Football, 79. 

Force of R. I. militia, 441, 520. 
Foreigners, regulations, 204, 251. 
Fornication jiermitted by Indians, 75. 
Fort James, 362. 303. 
F(n-tifieatlons .at Boston, 82. 
Foster, Hon. Theodore, 466 n., 505 n. 
Fowling, 79. 

Fox, George, 855, 359-302. 
Fox, Thomas, 559. 
Fox Point, or Hill, 40. 431. 
Fox Island, 272. 
Foxes, 73, 154. 
Frankfort, church at, 2. 
Frceborne, William, 124, 127, 135. 
Freedom of Conscience, see Religions Liberty. 
Freemen admitted in Mass., 16; at Aquedncck, 

127, 128; disfranchised, 153; nature and 

number of, 256; how admitted, 327, 349, 

453. 
Friends, Society of, sec Qu.nkers. 
French, vessels captured, 247 ; annoyances, 494 ; 

intrigues, 509; privateers, 520, 521, 522, 523. 
Frenchtown, 549, 556. 
Frincke, John, 344. 
Frontenac, Count, 522. 
Fry, Thomas, 424. 
Fugitives to be returned, 250, 346, 
Funer.al rites, Indian, 77. 
Fur trade, 81. 
Furniture, Indian, 85, 86. 



G 

Gallup, John, 8S. " 

Gambling, Indian, 79. 

Gammeli; William, lOS n., 475 n. 

Gar.liner, Lyon, 89, 91, 95. 

Gardiner, Robert, 559. 

Gardner, Mrs., of Npt., 209. 

Garret, Ilermon, 383. 

Garrison house, Bull's, 403. 

Geese, wild, 80. 

General Assembly, 201-211, 217, 219, 220, 225. 
226, 229, 230, 232, 240, 242, 24=5, 244, 250, 251, 
257, 259, 263, 270, 271, 272, 274, 278, 281, 282, 
283, 301, 806, 310, 315, 317, 320, 321, 323, 826, 
327, 828, 830, 332. 834, 336, 337, 340, 341, 34.5, 
347, 348, 349, 350-7, 304, 366-9, 401, 409, 418, 
414, 423, 426-8, 441, 448, 449, 453, 454, 4"'5, 
457, 459, 464, 466, 470, 471, 47s, 479, 480, 4s--', 
483, 486. 488, 518, 519, 522, 526, 528, 533-0, 
539, 541-5, 547, 550, 551, 557; the first, 201- 
211 ; modified, 219, rules and orders of, 220; 
powers of, 229, 320, 321, 354, 448,459,470; 
name first given, 230 ; two separate Assem- 
blies, 244; division of Houses proposed, 
327; and etfected, 5.33 ; to he paid, 32.S, 454; 
technical sessions, 453, 454 ; dissolved, 488; 
resumed, 518. 

Geneva, 2. 

'• Geological Survey of R. I." referred to, 226 n. 

George, Capt., 511. 

Geraerd, the Dutchman, 241. 

Gibbons, Major Edward, 197. 

Glllam, a pirate, 547, 551. 

Goat.s. ihS. 

(ioat Island, 2.54. 

Godfrev, Capt. John. .521. 

Goffe, or C.eotfc, John, 133. 

Gorte, the K.'-lchk'. 413. 

Gookin, Dani.l, 2T>. 814. 

" Gookin's Indians," referred to, 73, 74. 

Gorges, Sir Ferdinand, 7, 156. 



r;Gb' 



GENERAL INDEX TO VOLUME FIRST. 



Gorton, Saiiuiol, 110. 227, 240. 24S. 25S. 272. 342, 
3S9, 014; imrchase of Warwick. 112, 11 (i, 
17G; at Aquedneck, 183, IGO, 161, 10o-17H; 
abuse of, i&i; at Plymouth, 1C4; ^111111)0(1, 
107,172; his views of govt., 1G9, 194; In- 
dlctnicut, 170-2; at Pro v., 172-4: his politi- 
cal character, 173; at Pawtuxet, 174-5 ; pro- 
ceedings asainst, by Mass., 177-1S9; goes to 
Eiit'laiid, 190; result of his uii.ssion, 193, 
215; return, 217 ; Pres., 23D; letter to, 323 n.; 
death. 429. 

Gorton, Thomas, 146. 

Gorton, Capt., 520. 

Gortonists, why persecuted, 17S; to be subdued, 
179; attempt to treat, ISl; besieged, 1^2, 
1S3; tried, 184; sentenced, ls7; banished, 
ISS; return to R. I., 1S9; ideas of i:o\t., 
194 ; triumph of, 218, 219, 452. 

Gortonofres, 190. 

Gould, Thomas, 266. 807, 425. 

Gould Island, 266. 

Gouldini;, Kotrer, 416. 

Governor, title of, adopted, 143. 

<;ra!iaiiie, dames, 29S, 870-S. 

Cranyer, James N., 1). D., lOS u. 

Gi'atitude, Indian, 75. 

Greene, John, 100. 104. 107, 176, 1S4, 23S, 2G«, 
274, 27S, 295, 307, 312, 33s. 84^3, :345, 352, 365, 
461, 473. 475. 47S, 50>, 555 ; asent in P^ii^- 
land, 191, 195, 434. 4^iG, 446, 447. 451-3, 456,-- 
4is, 493, 499, 501 ; Dep. Gov., 519, 525. 530, 
536, 540, 542, 54S. 

Greene, John, Jr., 240, 245, 256, 263, 307. 

Greenwich, men claim Narrt., 242 ; Ea,st G. in- 
corp., 427, 42S ; named Bedford, 485 ; bounds 
set, 545 ; take Frenchtown, 556-7. 

Groton, 408. 

Ground-nuts, 406 n. 

Guagcrs appointed, 543. 



n 

Iladley. .595, 400, 413, 414. 

llamelton, Andrew, 527. 

Hamilton, Marquis of, family claim to Xarrt., 
1 19, 305. 471, 474, 479, 505," 529, 537, 53s. 

Hampton, 370. 

Ha!upton Court conference. 5. 

Harris, Thomas, 103, 252, 255, 259. 

Harris, Thomas, of Barbadoes. 265, 269. 

Harris, Andrew, 264. 

Harris, William, 97, 100, 102. 107, 254, 262, 317, 
829, 330, 331, 332, 834, 336-S, 340, 342, 854, 
366, 367, 414, 430, 457, 463; arrested for trea- 
son, 263; lawsuits, 432-6 : death. 487. 

Harris, William J., 263 u., 4;i2 n. 

Harbor at Block Island. 321. 342. 

Hardins, Pobert, 128. 148, 152-4; Capt., 197. 

Hiirdsliips of the e.arly colonists, 11. 

Jiarr.MJ, John, 338. 340. 

Haiirurd, 93. 96, 117, 159. 253, 2S2, 809. 358, 425, 
464, 504, 505. 

Harvard College, 345. 368. 

llastv-pudding, 84, 85. 

Hatti'eld, 40(». 

Havens, William, 133. 

HaverNliam, Westerly so called, 455. 

Hawkins, Job, 133. 

Havnes, Gov. John, of Mass., 46; of Conn., 147. 

Ha'zard, J. Alfred, 370 n. 

Hazard. Thomas, 132. 

" Hazard's State Papers,"' referred to, 223, 224, 
229, 232, 239, 248, 253, 263. 266, 2S1, 283, 309, 
340. 

Hazel, Mr., 235. 

Hempstead, 24S. 



Henchman, Daniel, 434. 

Henrv VII. of England. 27. 

Henry IV. of France, 496. 

Herald's College, London, 48. 

Herenden. or Hernden, Ben, 465. 

Heresies in E. I. reputed, 151 ; Gorton accused 
of, 163, 184, 187. 

Hewes, Joshua. 2b'3. 

Hig-insoij. Kev. John, 9, 10, 20. 

Hitchwavs, 128. 

Hildrcth's Hist, of U. S. referred to, 62. 185. 

Hinckley, Gov. Thomas, 897 n., 434, 469, 477. 47s. 
484, 501. 513. 

Iloilirson, Bobert, 495. 

Ho- Island. 266, 271, 272, 469, 477, 478. 500. 

Holden, Kandal, 124, 127-9, 153, 16T, 170, 176, 
1S7, 195. 203, 217, 222, 226, 240, 245, 250, 252, 
261, 263, 272,815,473, 475, 493; agent in 
England, 190, 193. 434, 436, 446, 447. 451-3, 
45S, 461. 

Holden, Boger. 519. 

Holland, The Separatists flee to. 6. 

Holland. Cornelius, 252. 

'• Holmes's Annals" referred to, 14, 17, 6S. 

Holmes, Obadiah, 234, 235, 

Holynum. Ezekiel, lOO, 107. 241, 

Hoiievnian. Bev. James. 560. j 

Hooker. Bev. Thomas, 87, 56. 505 n. -H, 

Hojddiis, Gov. Stephen, quoted, 99 n.' \ 

Hopkins, Gov. Edward, of Conn., 147. ' ' 

Hopkins, AVilliam, 425. 

Hope Island, 105 266,451. 

UnVM'S. 4s6. 489. 

Horton, Elizabeth, 265. 

Hospitalit.v, Indian, 75. 

Hoiisatoid'c river. 415. 

House, AValter, 846. 

Howland, John. 409 n. 

" Hubbar.l's Hist, of N. E." referred to, 26. 30, 
91, 114. 151, 164, 196, 197, 215, 216. 218, 225. 

'•Hubbard's Narrative" referred to, 890, 399. 

Hudson, Lieut,. 249, 

Hudson, William, 308. 812, 345, 347, 379. 

Huguenots in B. I.. 497. 503. 519, 549. 

Hull. Edward, 240, 247. 

Hull, John, 267. 

" Hume and Smollett, Hist, of England," refer- 
red to. 502. 533. 

Hunting, 79. 154. 

Hutchinson, Mrs. Ann. 51, 107, 151. 269; doc- 
trines of, 52, 53, 55, 56, 65; trial, 64,65; 
dfath. 66 n. 

Hutchinson, AVilli.am, 124, 128. 133. 134. 135. 14:^. 
14S, 172. 

Hutchinson, Edw.ard, 124, 127, 128. 

Hutchinson, Edw.ard, Jr., 124, 127, 282, 305, 307. 
Sns, 379-3S0, 399. 

Ilntcldnson, Sauuicl, 133. 

Hutchinson, lOllsha, 445. 

Hutchinson, "Hist, of Mass. Bay," referred to, 
16. 17, 80, 91, 108, 186, 212. 224, 26b, 502, 513. 
517. 

'■ Ilvpocrisv Unmasked," referred to, 159.16s. 
'ITO, 172. 174, 17S, 179. 18:5, ls5, 190. 



I 



" 111 News from N. E." referred to. 235, 444. 

Immortality, Indian idea of. 78. 

" Impertinent File," the, 337 n.. 840 n. 

Inqxists laid by James IE. 481. 

Imprisonment for debt, forbidden, 20S. 

Independence contemplated in Mass.. 32. 

Independents, toleration denied to, 237. 

India Point, 40. 

Indian, salutation, 40; tribes of N. E., 73, 74: 



GENERAL INDEX TO VOLUME FIRST. 



567 



character. To, S2 ; customs, 7G ; fiinenil rites, 
7T; rt'lision, 7S; sports. 70; trudition, SO; 
money, 81 ; councils, S3; food, S4; -wisw.aiiis, 
S5; lans'iagos, SG ; ideas upon Gorton's re- 
lease, 11)0 ; dissensions, 22i! ; foreigners not 
to trade with, 251; -war, 2.'J3 ; laws airainst, 
2T1,42«, 425; titles to land reeoirnized. 290, 
292; disarmed, ooH : drunkenness, OfiG ; jury, 
307; plots, ;!(i9, 305; frallantry, 3'JO; elo- 
qneuce, 83, 394; heroism, 411; chivalry, 
418; captives sold, 410, 419. 425. 

Indictments of Gorton, at Aqucdiicck, lTO-2; 
at Boston, 1S4. 

"Indigenous Eaces of the Earth," referred to, 
423. 

Inhahitant and freeman, distinction of, 250. 

Inoculation, 523 n. 

Interpolations in K. I. laws. 811, 479 n. 

Ipswich, l!S7, 218. 

Iroquois language, SO. 



J 

Jackson, Ilcnry, D. D., " Churches in U. I.." 

108 n. 
Jackson, Dr. Charles T., '"Survey of K. I.," 

226 n. 
Jamaica, 471, 477. 
James I., reiaru of, 5, C. 27, 291. 
James II., 802, 479. 481, 492, 510, 515, 516. 
James, Thomas, 100, 107. 
Jamestown ineorp., 449; ferrj- at, 5.54, 555. 
Jarves, J. J., "Confessions of an Inquirer.'" 422. 
Jcll'eries, Lord Chanc, 492. 
Jotlroys, Itobert, 148, 152, 164. 
Jenner, Dr. 523 n. 
Jesuits, 496, 497. 
Jesus College, 48. 
Jews protected, 478. 
Johnson's " Wonder "Working Providence," 51, 

91. 
Johnson, Edw.ard, ISO. 
Ju<Iith, Point, 477. 
Judge, Title of, 70, 127, 143. 
Jurisdiction, doubtful, 100 ; a foreign in U. I.. 111. 
Jurors, elected, 153 ; apportioned, 302 ; Indian, 

367. 
Justice, denied to Salem, .34 ; Indian sense of, 82. 
Justice of Peace, 144 ; in Narrt., 484. 



K 



Karalit language. SO. 

Kent, Josei)h, 300. 

Kent County, 74. 

"Key to Indian Language," referred to, 40, 74, 

75, 86, 190, 212. 
Kidd, CJapt. AVilliam, 543, .540, 547. 
King's Province, 224 n.; named, 315; sec Nar- 

raganset. 
Kingstown, or Kingston, 368, 453, 455, 467, 408, 

473 ; to be divided, 4S2 ; called Iloclicster, 

485; French settlers in, 407; bounds, .532, 

515; Assy, at, 542; court at, 555; North, 

195; South. 207. 403. 
Knight, Kichartl, 227, 229, 245, 250, 252, 255, 201, 

271. 
Knowle's "Life of Ttotrcr Willi.ams," referred to, 

22. 30. 105, 197, 234, 251, 253, 255. 302, 390, 

409, 475. 



Labor regulated, 16. 

Land, tenure li.\.ed, 145; not to be bought of In- 



dians, 240, 207; titles settled, 279; pur- 
chases, 272. 270 : public, 352, 356, 358. 

Lancaster burnt, 4o7. 

Lathrop, Capt., 400. 

Laud, Archbishoj), 0, 2-5. 

'• Law and Order" at Warwick, 195 u. 

Lawsuits, the Ilarri.s, 432-8, 536; Sandford vs. 
Forstcr, 448. 

Lawton, George, 133, 414. 

Laws, how passed or repealed, 203, 202, 270, 274. 
804, 805; to bo revised, 311, 330; phraseol- 
ogy of, 442; digest of, 459, 483 ; to be sent to 
England, 54:5, 551-3. 

Laytoii, Thomas, 183. 

League, N. E., .sec Confederacy. 

Lechford's " Plaine Dealing,''' referi-cd to. 99, 
140, 108. 

Leeds, Duke of, 529. 

Leete, Gov. of Conn., 456. 

Legalists, views of the, 03; party of, 54; tri- 
" umph, 00. 

Legislation, curiosities of, 448; independent, 

Lesislatnre. sec General Assembly. 

Leisler, Gov. of N. Y., 520, .546. 

Letters, extracts from, Boston to Salem, 20 ; 
Williams to Major Mason, 91 ; Mass. to I'aw- 
tuxet men, 111; The Three Govs, to Mass.. 
146; Gorton and Mass., 172, 174.175, 17n 
179. 180. 181. 189: Barton to WintJirop, 21s: 
Mass. to i:. I., 233, 277 ; Vane to II. L, 249 : 
Williams to Prov., 251; on soul liberty, 254 
-5; i;. 1. to U. Cols., 260, to Cromwell", -'Dr,: 
Charles II. to U. Cols., 283; Cartwright to 
Gorton, 323; II. I. to Lord Clarendon, :i2s : 
"the pernitious letter," 825; "the damned 
letter," 340; Atherton Co. and Wintliroji. 
377-3S1 ; John Scott, 383; Sheriff of Lon<lon 
to K. I., 4S2 ; K. I. to Board of Trade, 4s>- 
491 ; Mr. Lloyd's, 523. 

Lenthal, Kobert, 146, 1.52, 1.53. 

Leveret, Gov. 390, 435. 

Lewin, .John, 403. 

Libel law. 242. 

Liberty of Conscience, see Keligious Freedom. 

Lillibrldge, Thomas, 559. 

Liquor laws, 227. 251, 257, 307, 86S, 4S3, 503, 534 ; 
a seizure, 42.5. 

Little Compton, 397, 898, 535. 

Liturgy established, 2. 

Lockyer, Ecv.. 500. 

London charter lost, 492. 

Longbotlom, James, 270. 

Long Island, 23, 09, 73, 89, 246, 248, 253, 339, 302. 

Long Parli.ameut, 113. 

Lord, Eichard, 379. 

Lord Protector, sec Cromwell. 

Lords, House of, abolished, 237. 

Louis XIV., 496, 527. 

Lovelace, Gov. of N. T., 338, 302, 3CS. 

Lumber trade, 142. 

Lutlier, Martin, 1, 67. 

Luther, .fohn, 130. 

Lynde, Simon, 434. 

Lyon, sliip, 19. 

L'vtherland, William. 24.5. 252. 

Ly ttou. Sir E. B., " My Novel," 12S n. 



M 



Mackie. J. M.. "Life of Gorton," 190, 429. 

.Madairasear, 540. 

Maestroiddyn. 48. 

Magistrates, not to le.avc the bench, 260 : powers 

of, 330, 865. 
Magnus, squaw sachem, 415. 



568 



GENERAL INDEX TO VOLUME FIRST. 



Maine, lofi, 302. 307, 39s, 4S2. 

Major Oeneral, office of, 413, 441, 443; to ba two, 
409 ; elected by the people, 4TS. 

Majority of Freemen to rule, 15S, 202; age of, 
2011. 

Mallett, Thomas, 555, 559. 

Manrlrick, Mr., 3so. 

Manhattan, see New York. 

Marble, William, 2S2. 

Market (lavs, 42T. 

Marlboroii'-li, 4(lS. 

Marri.aires, Indian, 75, TO ; Law of, 20S, 2Gn ; how 
published, 325; number of, 490 ; fee, 545. 

Marslifield. 090. 

Martha's Viney.ard. 302, 521. 

Martindale, Isaac, 559. 

Mary, Queen, 2. 

MarVland, 527. 

Mason, Major John, 91, 93, 95, 347. 

Mason, C'apt., of Conn., 553. 

Mason, Gov. of New Ilamp., 470. 

Massachusetts Co., 9; Govt., 14; Indians, 73; 
receives Pawtuxct men, 111 ; Narrt. patent, 
lis ; official discourtesy, 147 ; intrigues, 170 ; 
claims Warwick, 177 : att.aoks it,"lSl; re- 
cent historians of, ls5 n. ; attempts to settle 
Warwick, 191 ; desit'ns on K. I., 192, 217, 
231.232, 233, 277,440,445,535; Indian af- 
fairs, 190, 248, 253, 834, 335; persecutes l!ap- 
tists, 234-6, and Quakers, 2G4-0, 26S-270, 
273 ; sued by Gorton, 25S ; releases Paw- 
tnxet men, 207 ; coins silver, 279 ; proposes 
a reference, 2S3, 307; grants declared void, 
816 ; opposes royal comms., 322, 323, 325 ; 
Philip's war in, 407, 408 ; oppressed by Kan- 
doljih, 407 ; quo -warranto, 481, 482 ; i)udley 
in, 4s3 ; Audros, 498; Provisional Govt., 
513; Iloyal Govt, over, 524. 

Massachusetts Colonial Records, referred to, 50, 
111, 112, 127, 133, 177, 187, 188, 191, 217, 220, 
23-1-3. 240, 247, 204, 268, 274, 277, 283, 303, 
808, 322. :12:!, :i:;4. 483. 

Mass.achus' tt^ lli-i..iioal Collections referred to, 
116, 157, 1^3. lii.\ 197, 297, 347, 453, 456, 400, 
409, 482, 483, 495, 500, 504, 513, 522. 

.Massacre at Weathersfield, 92; Mystic, 94; 
Swanzey, 869, 390, see Philip's W'ar. 

Massasoit, sachem of Wampanoass, 23, 39, 87, 
120, 159, 212, 3S9, 391, 392; death, 387. 

M.ither, Increase, 513, 515. 

.Mather, " Ma^nalia," referred to, 21, 22, 30, 30, 
51, 53, 02,'91, 151, 104. 

Mather, " Relation," referred to, 390, 391. 

Maverick, Samuel, 305. 

Mawsup, Sachem, 'V-J'X 

.Maxon, in- Ma^'sson. Richard, 133. 

-Mayflower, the ship. 7, 12, 137. 

Mayo, Samuel, 248, 249. 

Melusures and weivdits, 309, 540. 

Medtield burnt, 407. 

-Meeting of Puritan clergy, 20. 

-Metacouiet, 417, see Philip. 

Metaphysics defined, 58 n. 
Merrimack river, 73. 
Merry Mount, 15. 
Me--seni:«-rs, see Embassies. 
Mi'xliaiii. son of Canonicus, 243. 
Miantin..nii. sicliem, 23, ■.'4, 70, 74, .87, 88, 92, 99, 
154, 15S, 170, 178, 179, 190, 200, 270, 391, 392, 
430 ; death, 115-17. 
Military expediti(U)s, 89, 93, 95, 152, 180, 190, 197, 
199.246, 896, 401, 400; stores apportioned, 
2,30. 
Militia organiz.ation, 128, 141, 144, 204, 253, 319, 
330, 420, 489, 523 ; conflicts with royal gov- 
ernors, 525, .528. 
■^lillou, John, 225 n. ; a friend of R. Williams, 250. 



Mines, gold and silver, 225 ; co.al, 226. 

Minorities protected, 206. 

Misdemeanors, articles of, 480, 481. 

Misquamicock, see Westerly. 

Mississippi river, 96. 

Mohesan tribe, 73, 89, 91, 93, 190, 197, 199, 204, 

275, 402, 466. 
M<duiwk tribe, 73, 198, 204. 
Molasses, duty on, 534. 
Monev, Indian, 81 ; values of, 349. 
-Monmouth, l>uke of, 481. 
Mi'nogamy among Narrt. Indians, 70. 
MontaLTue, Mary W^irtley, 523 n. 
Montauk tribe, 73, 87. 
More, John, 133. 
Mortality among Indians, 73, 70. 
-Mortgaged lands in Narrt., 275, 815. 
Jtlorton, Thomas, 15. 
" Morton's Memorial," referred to, 13, 22, 24, 35, 

81, 91, 106, 165, 108, 390, 418. 
IMoshasuck river. 40, 99, 430; hill, 331. 
Mosher, Hugh, 276. 
Mother Goose, 189 n. 
Motto on State Seal, 149. 
Mount Hope, 23, 388, 396, 397, 415, 452, 453, 456, 

458. 
Mumford, Thomas, 267, 347. 
Mund.ay. a pirate, 543. 
Murder, of Oldham, 87; of an Indian, 106; of 

Miantinomi, 117; of House, 846; of Weeks, 

370; of Clawson, 405. 
Mystic, river and fort, 93 ; town, 231. 



N 



NaTncook purchase, 272. 

Nantes, edict of, 496. 

Nantucket, 362, 521. 

Narratranset tribe, 23, 78, 74, 75-86, 89. 334, 339, 
460 ; treaties, 92, 110, 144, 197, 198, 398 ; decay 
of, 177-S, 417, 420; submit to King Charle.;, 
790.315; Atherton's expedition, 199 ; early 
history, 212; war on Unc.as, 224, 264; oh 
Long Island, 248, 253; mortgage land, 275; 
school for, 328; plots, 395-7; "join Philip, 
401 ; defeated, 400. 

Narraganset Bay, 38, 09, 93, 824. 328 ; coveted by 
Massachusetts, 112, 178, 389. 

Narraganset patent, 118-120, 277, 383. 

Narraganset country, 193,195,204,242; Ather- 
ton purchase, 272, 275; claimed by Mass., 
Conn,, and family of Hamilton, 277, 281, 
304, 305, 3(17, 3US. 814, 328, 335, 343-350, 353, 
357. .'KiO, 370-880, 423-5, 427, 44(t, 442, 44.5, 
447. 451. 45.5-S. 401. 403, 409, 471, 479,480, 
5-J.'>, 530, .".35. 545, .557; annexed to R. I., 315, 
317; bounds, 338; decisions for Conn., 474, 
.534; secured to R. I., 861, 426, 442, 505; 
Dudley's gov't, 482, 484-6; Andros, 503; 
riots in, 555. 

Nassaump, 84, 85. 

Natick, 395. 

Naval, arm.aments and expeditions, 152, 246, 409, 
522; victory, 521. 

Neale, Thomas, 527. 

Neale's " History of the Puritans," 4. 

New England, causes of settlement, I ; ante-Co- 
lumbian discovery, 27 n. 

"New England ensign," referred to, 205, 269. 

"New England Geneal. Register," referred to, 
174. 

"New England judged," referred to, 20.5,209, 
273. 

"New England firebrand quenched," referred 
to, 302 n., 476. 

New Hampshire, 469, 470, 482, 535, 530. 



GENEKAL INDEX TO VOLUME FIRST. 



569 



New Haven, 95, 19G. 

New Jersey, 4S1 ; annexed to N. E., 508, 536. 

New London, 90, 343, 345, 350, 450, 521, 555. 

New Shorehain, inoorp., 3(54. 

New York, 113, 15S, 241, 314, 832, 339, 362, 366, 
494, 52T, 531, 53(!, 541, 54.5, 54ti, 547, 549 ; In- 
dians in, 73; tr:ide with, 155; snrrender of, 
809 ; annexeil to N. Eng., 508, 509. 

New York ducMincnts, referred to, 4S1, 531, 533 ; 
Broadhead's Hist, of, 155. 

Newberry, Mass., 370; plantation in E. I., 497. 

Newberry, Walter, 424, 499, 500, 508, 532. 

Newhonse, Thomas, 265. 

Newland, Richard, 559. 

Newman, S. C, qnoted, 99 n. 

Newport settled, 71, 136, 137, 870; committee of 
union, 122, 201 ; census,' 142 ; union with 
Portsmouth, 143; school law, 145; growtli 
of, 20.5, 272; disagrees with Ports., 213, 221, 
47S ; proposals for reunion, 244 ; Assv. at, 
245, 345; freemen in, 256; fortified,' 330; 
war tax, 831 ; fast riding forbidden. 442 ; 
Andros at, 50(5, 513; threatened attack on, 
521. 

Newtown, Mass., see Cambridge. 

Newtown, E. I., laid out, 12S. 

Niantic tribe, 74, 19S, 222, 460. 

Nichols, Col. Richard, 8o5, 309, 314, 382, 334, 335, 
873, 439, 468. 

Night-watch established, 158. 

Niles, Nicholas, 161. 

Niles, Samuel, "Hi.st. of Fr. and Eng. wars," re- 
ferred to, 75, 522. 

Ninecraft, sachem of Narrt., 816, 838. 339. 

Ninigret, sachem of Niantics, 74, 19S, 199, 248, 
253, 276, 411, 460. 

Nipmuck tribe, 74, 222, 334, 399. 

Non-conformity, first appearance of, 2. 

Nonsuch, frigate, 522. 

Northfield, 4(30. 

Northampton, 408, 41-3. 

North Kingston settled, 195. 

Norwich, 347. 

Notice required on sailing, 454. 

Nova Scotia, 494. 

O 

Oak, the Charter, 498, 504. 

Oaths, Williams's views upon, 30; Freemen's, 
31 ; of trade and nav., 467, 478, 539 ; E. I. 
ideas of, 548. 

Obeisance, Indian mode of, 75. 

Oblivion, act of, 22.5. 

Office, penalties for refusing, 228, 256 ; vacancies 
in, how filled, 261. 

Officers, under first charter, 211; under second 
charter, 295. 

Oldham, John, 87, 89, 105. 

Oleron, .sea laws of, adopted, 204. 

Olney, Thomas, 100, 102, 107, 181, 226, 240, 245, 
250, 254, 255, 257, 259, 261, 295, 432. 

Olney, Thomas, Jr., 361. 

One hundred and one, recurrence of the num- 
ber, 137 n. 

Opinionists, the Antinomians so styled, .54. 

Orchards, first in Mass., 98 ; in E. 1., 99, 137. 

Oregon, 96. 

Orphans, Indian care of, 75. 

Ousamequin, see Massasoit. 

0.\ford University, 48. 

Oyster Bay, 248. 



Paine, Anthony, 183. 
Paine, John, 362, 363. 



Paine, Capt. Thomas. 471, 521, 546, 5.59. 

Palmes, ICdw.ard, 469. 

Palmer, a pirate, 547. 

Pantheism, Indian, 78. 

Panthers, 73. 

Paper money, 522. 

Papists, none in E. I.. 490 ; plot. 532, 533. 

Parker, George, 153, 255, 261. 

Particular courts, 144. 

Parties, colonial, 535. 

Partridge, Alexander, 220, 222. 

Passports in New Eng., 499. 

Patent, of Mass., Williams' treatise on, 27, 28, 
29; attempt to enlarge, 118; see Charter. 

Patience, island, 105, 172," 173, 451. 

Patric, Capt., 95. 

Paweatuck river .and town, 23, 73. 87, 277, 281, 
282, 297, 312, 521, 525, 580. 

Pawtucket river, 98, 100; talis of, 408. 

Pawtuxet river, 100; purchase, 101 ; men sub- 
mit to Mass., Ill, 155, 174 ; Gorton moves 
to, 174-5; to choose its jurisdiction, 204; .an- 
nexed to Mass., 280, 231; to Plym., 232; 
complains to Mass., 233, 247; Assy, at, 243; 
Mass. subjects at obstruct R. I., 258; submit 
to E. I., 267; robbery at, 271 ; boundary <lis- 
pute, 429-4;38, 536. 

Peace, Eng., and Hoi., 267, 868. 

Peage, see Wampum. 

Peake, Alderman, 380. 

Pease, William, 5.59. 

Pedlars, act against, 545 ; taxed, 557. 

Peirse, Capt. defeated, 408, 410. 

Pekar, Capt., 521. 

Pelham, Capt., 520 

Pcmberton, of Westerly, 554, 5.5.5, 556. 

Pembroke College, 49. 

Pendleton, James, 484. 

Pennsylvania, 527. 

Pension act, 866. 

Pensioners, 49. 

Pequot tribe, 89, 276, 316. 402, 420 ; war, 54. 62, 
64, 73, 74, 87, 88-96. 

Perjury law, 208. 

Persecution, religious, 189 n.; of Baptists, 2.34-5 ; 
of Qu.akers, 264^6, 268-270; of Huguenots, 
496. 

Pessicus, sachem of Narrt, 1.58, 190, 197, 198, 
199, 224, 281, 248, 276, 315, 316, 324, 891. 

Pestilence among the Indians, 73, 887, and Eng- 
lish. 523. 

Peter, Hugh, 57, 464. 

Pcttaquamscot, 266, 277, 815, 881, 345, 351, 403, 
507. 

Phebe's Neck, 69. 

Philip of Pokanoket, 87, 381, 839, 350, 369, 388, 
892-6, 406, 410, 411, 415; death, 416. 

Phipps, Sir William, 224 n., 398 n., 522, 524-8, 
531. 

Pilgrims, 6, 7; differ from Puritans, 12-14, 22, 
~166; influenced bv them, 160, 4S4. 

Piracy and Pirates, 494, 540, 541, 543, 546, 547, 
550, 552. 

Plato, doctrines of, among Indians, 7S. 

Plurality law, 312. 

Plymouth Co., 7, 8, 291, 292, .862; Govt, of, 12, 
14 ; claims Sowams, 69, and .\quedneck, 159, 
and Warwick, 184, 191, and Hog Island, 266, 
271, 469, 477; other claims onli. I., 308, .312, 
31,5, 836, 440, 444, 477; dealings with Mass., 
89,280, 281, 282, 2".9 ; proceedinss against 
Gorton, 164-6; established church," 819; 
.seizes WauLsutta, 390; summons Phili]), 
393; arbiter in Harris causes, 486 ; obtains 
Mt. Hope, 453, 458 ; rebuked, 484, 501 ; re- 
sumes charter, 513; united to Mass., 226 u., 
524. 



570 



GENERAL INDEX TO VOLUME FIRST. 



Poeasset settled, 71, 125, f,~0 ; agreement to enii- 
Srato, ]::;2; iiaiaod Portsmouth, loO, 143; 
Indians. S3!). 

PokaiiokL't tribe, 23. 73. 7h. 212. 

Poll tax, 542. 

Polyirainy, Indian. 70. 

J'olytlu'isiii, Iniliau, 7S. 

Po[)t'. Francis, 55'J. 

Porter, .lohn, 124, 127,135. 14.3, 220, 207, 205; di- 
vorced. 32(1. 

Portsmoutli, 71. 122, 12S, 120, 201, 20.5. 2.32. 813, 
303; Govt., 130, 131 ; separation, 132; elec- 
tion, 134, 135; nniou -witli Newport, 143; 
ferry. 146; niicht •\v.ateh, 15.S; came laws, 
101 ; Gorton's ease, 100-172 ; lirst'Gen. Assy., 
2(11; <li.>ia;i-rees with Newport, 213, 221, 478; 
asks to ioin N. K. Leai;-ue, 223; freemen iu, 
2.50; fortified, 410. 

Possession by rii^ht of discovery. 201. 

Post routes establislicd, 527. 

Potowomut, 272. 45S, 407, 48.5. 

Potter, Abed. 101. 

I'otter, G('oro-e, 133. 

Potter, Nathaniel, 133. 

Potter, Robert, 133, 153, 107, 170, 1S7. 

Potter, Hon. E. i;., "Hist, of Narrairanset," re- 
ferred to, 105, 207, 270, 816,347.400, 4S0, 503, 
607, 545. 

Poverty of the colonists, 251. 313. 

Powaws, Indian. 7(). 

I'owder, refused to R. I., 15s. 25S. 

I'ower. Nicliobis, 170, 1^4. 1^7. 

Preanfole to the code of 1047. 205. 

Preilirtions fuUilled. 416, 417. 

Preempticui ri:;hts, 4s5. 

Pre.sbyierianism in Euslaud. 237. 

Prcsbvterj- feared in Mass.. 20. 

President, duties of 211, 270. 

Press, the, under Andros. 50s. 

I'retender, liirth of the. .5(i0, 527. 

Prices of jiroduee. 1.53. 313. 310. 450. 451. 

Prince, Gov., of Plym., 2s3, 352, 3t^0, :iOit. 

Prince, Rev. Tiioni'a.s "Annals."' referredi to, 14, 
16, 17, 22, 75; •• Introd. to ]Mason's Hist.," 91. 

Prisoners, support of, 351. 

Prisons to be built, 129. 227. 2.50. 207. 4S0. 532. 

I'rivateers on the coast. 400, 470, 477, 4^0, 520, 
521, 522. 

I'rivateerin.s in R. I.. 240, 247. 250, 471 ; act 
an-aiust, 47S, 534. 

Probate law, 20^, :!00. 

Proposition.s, the live, of 1605. 317, GIS. 

Proteijtants, two parties of, 3. 42. 

I'rotests, 330, 335, 33s, 342, 350. 365. 

Proviilencc, 40, 00, 7o, 97, 127, 1>1. 201, 20.5, 31.3, 
331, 407, 408, 425, 46t), .500 : the 13 propri- 
etors, 100; divisions of land, 101, I'il ; irovt., 
102, 103-110; civil comi)act. 103; first 
church, 107; riots, 110,2.54; concili:ites the 
Indians, 120; growth of, 121, 272 ; instruc- 
tions, 123; Gorton at, 172-4; dissensions at, 
172-4, 214, 242-0. 331, 33S, 340. 3.54, 35S, 400; 
two sets of Assts., 245-0; freemen in, 250; 
fortified, 2,53; justice's court, 2.59; boundary 
disputes, 420^33.530; Assj-. to meet rcgu- 
larlv at, 470; clainu-d bv Conn., 545. 

Proxy votes, 143, 202, 311, 

Prudence Island, H7, 10.5, 172.420, 503; joined to 
Ports., 204; inde].endenl, 302-3. 

Pumham, sachem of Shawomet, 74, 170, 1S4, 
101,190, 200, 071 . 303, 8 ! 0, 324, 302, 503 ; sub- 
mits to Mass., 177; rebels, 393; death, 417. 

Punctualitv, an Indian trait, S2. 

Punishments, Indian. S3; inllicted, 123, 142, 
257, 25S, 2(;i, 2T.5. 31:;. 32(», 329, 351. 

Puritan.s, rise of the, 3; disown other sects, 4; 
two kinds of 0: pnlicy in Mass., 10, 11, 52, 



67; aim at independence, 82, 19.5; char.ac- 
ter of, 43-6; i)olt'mic habits. 56; integrity, 
92; bigotry, 147 n.; hostility to 11.1^,100, 
402; apology for, 135 n.; persecute Gorton- 
i.st.s, 177-89, 'and Baptists, 234-,5, and Quak- 
ers, 2(34-0. 203-270, 273 ; tiireats. 283 u.; hated 
Cromwell, 274; treatment of the Indian.s, 
391, aud of K. I., 402 ; their estim.ato of An- 
dros, 514. 
Pyncheon, John, 400. 



Q 



QuahauK shell, S4. 

Quaker.*; 151. 184, 203, 320, 820, 399, 490, 405, 
540; arrival in lioston, 204; persecuted, 
205-6. 20S-70, 273; debate with Williams, 
859-302, 470. 

Quarter Courts, 144. 

Quebec, 522. 

Cjueries of Board of Trade, 45S. 

Questions discussed in the Antinonuan contro- 
versy, 54; put at Gorton's trial, 130. 

Quidnesett purchase, 272. 

(iuinapin, a .s.achem, 417. 

(>uincy, Hon. Josiah, 293, 872, 37.5, 334. 

Quiunebaus, 207. 

t>uit-rent in R. I., .50.3, ,507. 

(^(unaim established, 202. 

(^>uota of trooi]s, 523, 520. 

(iuotenis, island, 155. 

(iiio warranto, writs of, 430, 4S1, 433, 434, 492 ; 
threatened, 544, 554. 



It 



Races, law <i( succession of. 420-3. 

Randolph. Edward, 418, 407, 409, 471. 430-5, 403, 
404,502.511.51.5.541, 54.5. 

Rapin's " Hist, of Eug." referred to, 293. 

Ra\'. Simon, 303. 

Reld estate, tenure of, in R. I.. 143-9. 

Ret iprocal engagements, 205, 223. 317. 

Itecords, of Prov., 09, lo2; of Ports.. 1,59; of 
AVarwick, 19.5, 200, 310, 330, 34(), 434, 45S; of 
(!odd in Eton's govt., 250; of tien. Assy, lost, 
524, 53(1. 

Red Sea, 540, 543, 

Refornuition, the, 1, 2; clieckeil, 4; aims of, 25, 
41. ■ 

Registiy of births, »fcc., 304, 545. 

Reboboth, see Seeeonck. 

Religious Freedom, at Prov., 102 ; at Aquedncck, 
140,152; in first charter, 200-1 ; successful, 
215; how guarded, 262; defined by Wil- 
liams, 254-5; defended by It. I., 200; in 
second charter, 202; advocated by Randolph, 
43,5, and by Andros, 501 ; maintained in R. 
I.. 490 ; allowed by James II., 5('L', 5!I3. 

Religious views of the Indian.s, 73. 

Remonstrance, as to commissions asainst the 
Dutch, 247; is''arrt. Indi.ans to the English, 
204; It. I. against Athorton Co., 403. 

Report of Coms. of 103.3. 474. 

Rei)reseutative system adopted, 202. 

Rei)uidican feelinir, unknown in Mass., 33; per- 
vades K, I,, 206, 207, 293, 294; partv in It, I., 
222, 517, 

Residence, how olitaincd, 46$, 

Resloration of the Stuarts, 274. 

Rovemu' system of Andros, 503. 

R<'volutioii against Andro.s, ■510-.511. 

"Itevolution in N. Kng. Justified." referred to, 
509. 

Revnolds, James, 42.5. 



GENERAL INDEX TO VOLUME FIRST. 



571 



Reynolds, Williani, 100. 

'■ Klioile Island CiiKuiinl Records,"' referred to, 
l3-i, 134, 32."), ."j2S, cf' jxiKurin. 

'• Ilbode Isliiud Hist. Colls," referred to, 112, 
347. 

Uhode Island, State of, orisin of name, 70; need 
of a charter, 113; delay in unitin!:r, ]'22, 201 ; 
rejected by N. K. Lea;,'ue, 157, 228; name 
adojited, 15S; first charter, 200 ; establish- 
ment of democracy and of religions freedom 
both original with. 20.% 207, 215; virtually 
independent, 207, 293-1 ; resemblance to the 
Federal Union, 211 n., i)arlies in, 222, 42(3, 
517; d.anger from Indians, 222; C'odding- 
tou's scheme, 233 ; dismembered, 23S ; re- 
united, 242.251 ; dissensions in, 243, 240, 247, 
341, 3.54; causes of these, 244, 251 ; their ef- 
fect in Enghind, 24S); loyalty of, 245 ; mar- 
tial spirit of, 24G ; i>rotects Quakers, 2C6, 26S, 
359, and .Jews, 47S-9 ; appoints officers in 
Narrt:. 279; petitions for a new charter, 
2S0 ; two ejjochs of its history, 286-7 ; recog- 
nizes Indian land titles, 290-2 ; King's Pro- 
vince assigned to, 315, 317; opposes Philip's 
War, 399 ; but not consulted, 402 ; the war 
in, 403, 41.5, 418 ; treatment of captives, 419 ; 
renewed struggles for existence, 440, 530; 
statistical account of, 400, 4SS-491 ; writ of 
quo warranto, 4Sl ; charter suspended, 4s;fi ; 
made one county, .501; rights vindicated Vjy 
Andros, 50.5, 510; resumes the charter, 512; 
close of the '• formation period,"' 519 ; rights 
infringed, 524 : decision in lavor of, 527 ; ex- 
posed^ condition of, 583 ; charges against, 
541, 542, ,544. 551, 552; a quo warranto 
threatened, 554, 55i! ; free legislation of, 557. 

Rhodes. Zechariah, l(r2, 25S, 482. 

l;ichards, constable, 413 n. 

Richardson, William, ViS. 

Ricliison, Am., 379. 

Richmond, Edward, 410, 442. 

Rickard, George, 103. 

Riding fast, forbidden, 442, 407. 

" Itigg's Narrative," referred to, 511. 

liiots. .at Prov., 110, 174, 2.54 ; at Ports., 129. 170 ; 
at Warwick, 271 ; at Westerly, 2S2, 350 ; iu 
King's Province, .5.5.5, 557. 

Robinson, Rev. John, 13. 

Robins(m, Williun, 273. 

Rochcfoucanlt, m.axim of, 92 n. 

Rochester, Kingston so called, 4S5, 504. 

Rocky Mountains, 96. 

Uogei-s, or Rodgers, .James, 195, 20.3, 271. 273, 
''274,306; deqth, 424. 

Rogers, John, 501. 

Rogers. Capt., 520. 

Roman Catholics, 274, 490, 6-32. 

Romilly, Joseph, 48. 

Roonie, John, 133, 252. 

Ro.setta Stone, i:>i n. 

Rose, frigate, 49S, 511. 

Rowlandson's, Mrs., "IS'arrative," 418. 

Rowley, 187. 

Roxbury, 187, 512. 

Royalist party in R. I.. 222, 229, 517, 52S. 

Runners, Indian, S3. 

Ryswick, treaty of, 53S, 539. 



Sabbatarians, 427. 

Sachems, power of the, S3. 

Sachuest, 331. 

Sadleir, Mrs. Anne, 47. 

Sallin, John, 427, 44.5, 447, 4.57, 464. 

Salaries, 850, 85S, 305, 532, 548. 



Sale of Indians, 410, 419, 42.5. 

Salem, 9, 10, 20, 21, 24, ;iO, 34, 38, 187, 265. 

Sahnon, 72. 

Saltonstall, Nathaniel, 469. 

Sam]), S4, 85. 

Sandford, .lohn, 124, 127, 144, 203, 226, 25.5, 201, 

274, 278, 315, 827. 442, 499 ; Pres.. 245. 
Sandford, Peleg. 427, 4:34. 442, 447, 409, 473, 502, 

520, 539, 5'17, 548, .551 ; Gov.. 459, 405, 407. 
Sands, James, 303. 300. 
Sassacus, sachem of Pequots, 89, 93, 95. 
Saunders, Tobias. 277, 2>!, 344, 351. 
Sausaman, an Indian. 895-6. 
Savaue, Thomas, 124,' 462. 
Savage, Major, 896. 
Savaire, TToii. James, referred to. 22. 27, ;!4. 50. 

63, 117. 140, 147. 185, 225. 
Saybrook, 89, 92, 93, 95, 504. 
Sayles, John, 245. 

Scalping, learned from, the Frencli, 75. 
Scarcity of provisions, 142. 
Scituate, Mass., 4S4. 
Scot, or Scott, John, 299. 800. 3S:3-5. 
Scott. Richard, 103, 269, 476; Catharine, Ids 

wife, 209 ; Mary and Patience, daughters, 

278. 
Scotch story, ISS n. 
Scouting p.nrties, 538. 
S(.'a Law's adopted, 204, 454. 
Setd .adopted, 149, 204, SuO; of N. Kng., 495; of 

Andros, 490; of R. I. broken, 506;" new one 

procured, 519. 
Sealed ballots used, 131. 
Seaconnet, 39.5, 414, 477. 
Sealers of weights, 369, 540. 
Seamen, protected, 454. 
Secretary, duties of, 140. 
Srd;;\vick, Samuel. 3S3, 385. 
Seilitioii act, 355, 858, 4.5.5, 5.53, 554. 
Sri kers, doctrines of' 151 n. 
!>eekonk. river and town, 39, 41, 72, 97. 10]. 11.5, 

120, 235, 307, 8.53, 389, 408, 550. 
Separation, the, 4-0. 
Sequasson, a Conn, sachem, 115, 110. 
Sergeant, town, duties of, 131 ; deputy, 273. 
Sei'vants, law to protect, 454. " ' 

Sessions of Assembly, brief, 257 ; regulations of, 

270 ; secret, 272 ; technical, 453 ; see Gen- 
eral Assv. 
Sliaw, George, 133. 
Shawmut, see Boston. 
Shawomet, see Warwick. 
Shettield, Joseph, .552-,5. __ 

Sherman. Philip, 124, 127, 135, 219, 229. 
Sliiiibuilding, 142. 

Shc,tten. Sampson, 133, 15.3, 167, 176, 188. 
Slm'wdiiess, Indian, 82. 
Shrimiiton. Samuel, 469. 
Silver ore, 225; coined, 279. 
"Simplicities Defence." referred to. 167. 16S, 

17.5, 183, ISO, 188. 194, 322. 
Six Nations, tribes, 73. 
Sizars, 49. 

Skrlton, Rev. Samuel, 20, 24, 20, 28, 
Skirmish, lir.st, with Indians, 1.52. 
Slate rock, 40. 

Slavery, law against, 240, 408, 419. 
Small -pox, 73, 523. 
Smith, Adam, ■' Wealth of Nations,"' referred to, 

404. 
Smith, Kdward, 250. 
Smith, Capt. John, 8 
Smith, .lolin, the miller, 97, 101, 409. 
Smith, John, of Wahvick, 219,222,295; Prcs., 

220, 240. 
Smith, Rev. Ralph. 22, 164. 165. 
Smith, liichard 195, 266, 272, 282, 307, 308, 312, 



572 



GENERAL INDEX TO VOLUME FIRST. 



S3S, S5<), SGG, 451, 45G, 4oT, 4fi3, 4G9, 4r2, 4s.3, 
484, sot), 502, 5()S, 5-2(). 

Smith, Kicharil, Jr., 2S3, 305, 307, 4S4. 

SmithficM, 120. 

81113'th, Francis, lOG. 

■Socho, sachem of Narrt., 27G n. 

Society for Propagating the Go.spel, 5G0. 

Soconoco, sachem of I'awtuxet, T4, 17G; sub- 
mits to Mass., 177, I'JG. 

Sophy Manor, see Prudence Island. 

Soul Liberty, Williams' views of, 126, 254; see 
lieliirlous Freedom. 

Southerl(.wn, 277, 282, 283, 803, 312; named 
Stonint'ton, 833, which see. 

Sowams, C9, 98, 8s8. 

Si)arks, Jared, 185 n., 475 n. 

Speedwell, the vessel, 7. 

Spicer, Thomas. 133. 

Spirits, sale of. forbidden, 227. 251 : seized, 425. 

Springfield, 400, 408. 

Sciuafhcs. 84. 

Stampers" Hill, 258 n. 

Slandisli, Miles, 15, 397. 

Stanton, or Stainton, Kobert, 183, 276. 

Stanton, Kobert, the younger, 410. 

Stanton, Mary, 209. 

Stanton, Thomas, 34G. 

Staples, W. K., " Annals of Prov." referred to, 
101, 102, 108, 112, 121, 167, 214, 254, 256, 258, 
335, 3s9, 419, 430, 431, 512. 

Star Chamber. 4, 47. 

State, term first ajiplied to P. I., 149. 

t^tatisties of K. I., 488-491. 

Stau^'hton, Capt., 9.5. 

Stauu-hton, Gov. Willi.am, 398. 446, 452, 453, 469, 
531. 

Ste^'enson, Marraa<luke, 273. 

Stirling, Earl of, 362. 

Stocks^ 128, 142. 257, 313, 470, 486. 

Stone. Capt., 87, 89. 

Stonington, 333, 334, 339, 841, 343-6, 348. 351, 
35.5, 364, 411, 467, 461, 521, 530. 

Strange, Lott, .341. 

Strawberries, 84. 

Stubbs, Quaker preacher, 360, 361. 

Study Ilill. 98. 

Sturgeon, 80. 

Stuyve.sant, Gov. Peter, 241. 

Styles, President, his Diary, 121. 

Submission, of Pawtuxet men to Mass., Ill; of 
the .sachems, 190, 2,s4, 505 ; 11. I. to Crom- 
well, 256, 257 ; of Coddington, 259 ; of Paw- 
tuxet men to R. I., 267 ; law against, 270. 

SnlxM-riiiticin book of James I., 49. 

8u.c,-.-^i.,n of Eaces, Law of the, 420-3. 

Sii.n.ury, -los;. 

Sullolk'couuty, annexations to, 231, 277. 

Sugar, dutv on, 481. 

Sunday laws, 2.52, _8C7, 454. 

Supremacy, act of, 8. 

Supreme Court over N. Eng. asked for, 446. 

Surgery, license to practise, 152. 

Sutton's Hospital, 47. 

Swanzey, 396. 

Swedes, surrender, 309. 

Swimmers, Indian, 80. 

Swine, acts regulating, 1.32, 141. 153. 

Svnod at Newtown, 6i-2. 



Talcot, Maior, 413. 41.5. 
Tallm.an, Peter, 276, 320. 
Tashtassuck, sachem of Narrt., 212. 
Taunton, 352, 356, 899. 



T.avern, flnst in Pi. I., 128; licensed, 257; regu- 
lated. 2G0 ; act rejiealed, 483. 
Taxes laid. 'Jo.-.. 'JTl. 27'.'. l':!',. :;l:l 320, .829, .381, 

346. .■;.">•.'. (."lO. IT::, I7;t. .Mi7. .Miv, 510, 520, 531, 

6.32, .5 1'J; lawsut. :;r„\ 44i, 54:i ; ditficult to 

collect, 534. 
Temperance i)etition, the earliest, 324. 
Terrv. Thomas. -WM 
Test Act in Mass., 17-19 ; results of, 68. 
Tew, Pichard, 2(i3. 278. 
Thames river, ^9, 90. 

Thanksgiving days, 20. 62, 95, 9G, 506, 508, 509. 
Thatcher's '"Indian Biography," referred to, 

418. 
Thatcher, Dep. Coll. of Boston, 471. 
'• The Truth Exalted." referred to, 362. 
Theocracy in Mass.. 33. 
Thcimiison. Kobert, 336. 
Throckmorton, John, 100. 
Tibbitts, Uenrv. 425. 
Tiverton. 3^9. 5:1,5. 
Tobacco. s4. 4^1. 
Tockwotten, 4il. 

Toleration, how viewed by the Puritans, 44, 4.5. 
Tomahawk, not of Indian origin, 75. 
Toiinau'e duties, 522. 
Torrev, Josepli, 250. 276, 306, 807, 312, 827. 341, 

343, 344. 
Town House, name first given, 520. 
Town charters granted, 226; Govts, provided 

for, 487. 
Towns incorporated, 837, 364, 368, 428, 449; 

names changed, 485. 
Town Councils^ 204, 466 ; their engairement, 

228 ; powers of. 369, 468. 
Training, first general, 129. 
Treason trials, BewOtt, 243; Harris, 354. 
Treat, Uaj. Gen., 400, 401, 408, 406; Gov. of 

Conn.. .526. 
Treaty, with Massasoit, 87 ; Miantinomi, 92, 116; 

Narrt., 144, 197; Church's, 414; of Kys- 

wick. 539. 
Trial of three murderers at Plymouth, 106. 
Tribute paid by Indians, 316, 393. 
Trimming, a piirate, 521. 
Trinity College, 47. 
Trinity Church memorial, 569. 
Trippe, John, 183. 
Trocjps, roval. first, in N. Ens,, 498. 
Trout, 72. 
Truekmasters, 130. 
Trumbull's " Hist, of Conn." referred to, 9G, 117 

142, 197, 41S, 493. 504. 
Turner, Lawrence, 306. 
Turkeys, wild, 80. 

Turks,' inoculation derived from the. 523 n. 
" Tyl)es of Mankind," 423. 



T'ncas. sachem of Mohesans, 93, 115, 116, 117 
158, 196-9, 224, 264, 392, 460. 

rnderhill, Capt. John, 64, 91, 92, 95, 246. 

rnil'ormity, act of. 8; attempted, in Mass., 86. 

United Co'lonics of N. Eult., 115. 117. 1.56, 19T 
199. 224, 239. 240. •24s, 253. 26:8, 275, 822, 333, 
505 ; refuse K. I., 223; declared to be usurp- 
ers, 316. 

Universalist preacher, trial of a, 183-4. 

Universities, English, classification of students, 
49. 

Updike house, 195 n. 

Upham, Charles W., 185 n.. 464 n. 

Uselton. , punisheii, 351. 

Usher, John. 503. (. 



GENEEAL INDEX TO VOLUME FfRST. 



573 



Vaccination, 523. 

Vauo, (lov. Sir Henry, 53, 55, 56, 57, CO, CS, 70, 

)ss, !(-.', l'J4. 141, 24!), 250, 252. 
Vaimhan, William, 270. 
Veils <lisc:ii,vse(l in Mass., 20. 
Venison, s.i, 130. 
Verdicts, unexplained. 43.'). 
Verin, Joshua, 97, 101, 104, 105. 
Vernon, Daniel, 4S6. 
Verrazano, discovers It. I., 70. 
Vice-royalty proposed for N. Ens:., 535, 536. 
Viewers of corn, &c., appointed, 129. 
Vincent, P., 91. 
Vindictiveness, Indian, 75. 
Virginia, 87, 479, 514, 527. 
Votinisr, with sealed ballots, 131 ; by proxy, 143, 

202, 454 ; requisites for, 155 ; fraudulent, 

227; how punished, 329; in Gen. Assy., 

464. 



W 



Wadsworth, Capt., 40S. 

Wales, 4S. 

Walker, John, 124. 

Walker, Thomas. 501. 

Wall, John, 135. 

Walley, Major John, 520. 

Walnuts, 84. 

Wampanoag tribe, 23, 73, 120, 2GG, 3S9, 420. 

Wanipum-peage, 81, 176, 227, 278. 

Wamsutta, sachem of Wampanoags, 200, 387, 
388-392. 

W,inasquatucket river, 99, 101, 430, 435. 

\\'ar, Pequot, 88-96 ; Moheg. and Narrt, 115-16, 
196 ; U. Cols, and Narrt., 197, 253 ; Ensr. and 
Hol., 241, 856, and France, 830; Philip".s, 
396-420 ; Er. and Eng., 519 ; alarm of, 158, 
248, 330, 350. 

Ward, Kev. N., quoted, 45. 

Ward, Attorney General, 517. 

AVarner. John, 103, 176, 187,190,222,233,470; 
trials, 241, 287-9. 

Warrants against Harris, 203, 354. 

Warren, 98 n. 

Warwick, 112, 116, 122, 163, 176, 177, 201, 205, 
813, 353; attacked, 180-3; settlement sus- 
pended, 189; appeal to Eng., 191, 238; 
n.amed, 193 ; return to, 194, 425; organized, 
206; fear -of Indians, 222 ; Gen. Assy, at, 
225, 226, 345, 468, 471, 479 ; demands protec- 
tion, 229 ; annexed by Mass., 230-1, to 
Plym., 232; Koyal Corns, at, 316,319,322; 
protests, 325, 326, 342, 359, 365, 536 ; dispute 
with Newport, 836; l)roken up, 406; burnt, 
408; battle near, 415; Dutch disturbance at, 
241 ; pro])ose.s reunion, 242, 243 ; two sets 
of Assts., 245, 246 ; sues Mass., 258 ; sentence 
of banishment mitigated, 208 ; order for Its 
repeal, 452 ; riot, 271 ; boundary disputes, 
432-8,536, 545; agents in Eng., 4;M, 446 : 
Potowomut, 467 ; address to the King, 473 ; 
wolves in, 508 ; claimed by Conn.. 545. 

Warwick, Earl of, 113, 193, 2lt, 218, 226. 

Watch, established, 158, 557. 

Watch Hill, 331. 

Water bailies, 204. 

Water mill, 130. 

Waterhouso, Dr., .523 n. 

Waterman, Nathaniel, 4:34. 

Waterman, Itichard, 97, 100. 107, 176, 184. 1S7, 
432. 



Waters, Thomas, 408. 

Watertown, 187. 

AV;ittac.,no-es, 190. 

WeatliiTslield, 92,93. 

Weaver, Capt, 520. 

Weeounkhass, squaw sachem of Niantics, 460, 
461. 

Wecfamo, squaw sachem of I'ocasset, 389, 392, 
395, 399. 

Weights and measures, 369, 540. 

Weirs, used by Indian.s, 80. 

Weld's " Itise, Keign, and Ruin," 62, 6-3, 64, 05. 

Wells, arrested, 461. 

Weequasheooke, 333. 

Westeolt, licbcrt, 272. 

AVestcolt, 8tukelv, 100, 107, 245. 

Westerly, 270, 277, 282, 316, 33-3, 841, -344, .34.5, 
348, 350, 351, 353, 355, 357, 364, 440, 453, 
45.3-7, 461, 530, 532, 545, 552, 553 ; incorp., 
337 ; called llaversham, 485. 

Weston, Francis, KiO, 107, 110, 176, 187. 

Weymouth, 269, 4U7. 

Whales, So. 

Whaley, the regicide, 418. 

Wharton, Kichard, 503. * 

What cheer, 40, 101. 

Wheelwright, Eev. John, 52, 50; proceedincs 
against, 59-03, 68. 

Whijipiiig-post, to be made, 128, 142, 320, 351 ; 
abolishe<l, 129 n. 

Whippl.', J.ihn. ,ir., 301, 425, 50-3, 52-3. 

Whitgitt, Archbishop, 5. 

AVhortleberries, 84. 

Wickenden, William, 103, 181. 

Wickes, Francis, 97, 103. 

Wickcs, John, 133, 167, 170, 176, 187, 190, 229, 
201,272, 842; death, 870. 

Wickford. 93, 272, 282, 305, 334, 835, 344-7, 406. 
427, 551 ; Conn, court at, 808. 

Wigwams, 85. 

Wilbore, Samuel, 124, 127, 128, 131,207: Mr.. 
197. 

Wilcoek.s, Mr., 463. 

Willard, Major, 253. 

Willett, Thoma.s, 266, 314. .090. 

William III. .and Mary, 510, 513, 515, 532, 543. 

Willi.ams, Providence, 107, 420. 

Williams, liohert, 254, 361 

Williams, Kodericus, 48-50. 

Williams, Koger, of Dorchester, 50. 

Williams. Koger, 20, 69, 70, 72, 78, 87, 88, 124. 
154, 172, 203, 205, 219, 221, 227, 232, 295, 311, 
812, 815, 325, 342, 847, 380, 409, 414,419, 430, 
432, 4.34, 450, 403, 514; at Salem, 21, 24, 28; 
at Plym., 22, 23 ; his views misrepresented, 
25, 20, 35, 292 ; proceedings against, 27-9 ; 
ordained, 28; his views upon oaths, 30-82; 
Ills protests, 34, 37; charges against, 35, 56; 
banished, 37; settles at Seekonk, 39, at 
Prov., 40; causes of his banishment, 41-6; 
early life, 47-50; prevents the Pequot 
league, 90 ; writings quoted, 91, 97, and see 
"Key;-' interprets treaty, 92; motives in 
coming to E. I., 07-9 ; i)urchase of Prov., 
100, 101, of Prudence Island, 105, 302; son 
born, IOC; his baptism, 107; sent to Eng., 
113, 158 ; obtains charter, 114; return.?, 115; 
treats with Massasoit, 120; opjioses Gorton, 
172, 173; in Narrt., 195; Indians send for, 
190 ; prevents war a second time, 197 ; Dep. 
Pres., 225 ; sent to Eng. a .second time, 238. 
239; refuses to be Gov., 242; return, 250; 
Pres., 252, 261; defends Indians, 253; de- 
fines soul liberty, 254-5 ; Judge, 259; goes 
to IJoston, 260; Harris controversy, 262-4 ; 
mediates with Mass., 268; warns the Ather- 



'# 



574 



GEiftlRAL INDEX TO VOLUME FIRST. 



tdiiCo.. 272; Quaker debate, 800-2; Capt. 
ol" inilitia, 40S; <leath, 47.5-7. 
AVills. iiiafU; \>y town coimcils, 209; probate of, 

yco. 

Willys, Mr., .0.3G. 

\Vil.-V>n, (Icoriiv and Deborah, 2G.'). 

AVilsdii, t^aiiniel, 2G7. 347. 

"\Vils(.ii, ];ev. Jobu, 22, r..3, 5G, 63-GO. 

AVindinill hill, o31. 

"Wiiidiuill. tiivst in II. I., 370. 

W indigo r, 93. 

"Winslow, <;,')v. Edward, 40, 41, 40, 1.59, ICO, 101. 

lO"), 193, 194, 21,5,210. 
Win^Iow, .J(.si:di, 2^3, 390, -391, 403, 41.5, 430. 
Wiiisor, Jo.^l'.r.a, 103. 
Wiuthroji. (lov.John, 9, 14. 21, 22. 20. 40, 5.5, 50, 

CO, .^7, 92, 10.5, 172, l.s2, 197. 225, 22S, 302. 
AVinthroj), (iox'. John, jr.. of Conn., 22.5, 227, 

272, 2'.)0-9. 300, 301, '33.5, 343, 347, 31S, 3,52, 

353, 37S-3S0, 411. 
TVinthrop, Oov. Titz John, of Conn., 54S. 
Winthrop, Major General, 520, 535. 
AViiithrop, Stephen. 111.5. 
••"SViuthropV dournal."' referred to, 10,21.20, .30, 

34, 37. 50. 55. .58. 02, C4. 9s, 104, lli7, 117, 134, 



• 1.39, 140, 147, 151, 152, 157, 158, lOS, 178, 1S2, 

183, 191, 193, 215, 210, 225. 
Witcheraft, 525. 
Witherell, Daniel, 434. 
Witnes.ses, exeiupt from arrest, 308, 
"VYollaston, Capt., 1.5. 
AVolves. 73, 154, 101, 315, 893, 508, 534. 
Women. Indian, 84, 85. 
Wonenivtonoiuv, sachem of Aquedneck, 73: 

hill,'331. ■ 
Woodman, John, .507. 
Wriiihtinaton, K.djert, 5.59. 
WuddaU,\ir Wadded, William, 170, 187. 



Yellow fever, 73. 
York, Dnkc of. .504. 

YouuL', licv. Alex., " Chroniele.s'" referred to, ' 
10, 1.2, 1S5. 

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